À la Vie, À la Mort
by lalunaticscribe
Summary: "They say that in Johto, the plum is meant to endure the winters." Porcelain clinked as the speaker set her tiny cup decisively down on the bamboo-lattice tray. "I wonder if that was their intention to make the box shaped like a plum blossom. Maître Jade, It is a suitable arrangement, n'est-ce pas?/ AKA the Pokemon AU nobody asked for in Miraculous Ladybug.
1. Prologue: Des amis de l'hiver

_**À la Vie, À la Mort**_

 _ **An LLS Production**_

* * *

 **Prologue:** **Des amis de l'hiver**

"They say that in Johto, the plum is meant to endure the winters." Porcelain clinked as the speaker set her tiny cup decisively down on the bamboo-lattice tray. "I wonder if that was their intention to make the box shaped like a plum blossom. Maître Jade, It is a suitable arrangement, _n'est-ce pas_?"

The old man contemplated over his teapot. The heavy smell of tea-dust and Oran Berries hung around, mixed with the sweet scent of Leppa peel. "It is as you say, madame," he replied, looking at the box in question.

It was shaped like an octagon, and placed within was a gold outline of a five-petal plum, each petal coloured orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. In the centre on a raised dais the Tao symbol, where laid in the dots of the Tao spots of red and silver. How curious it was that such devices were linked to the latest topic of Mega Evolution, was his thought.

"A suitable arrangement for displaying the legendary Keystones," contemplated the old lady. "Yet one of them, with its companion, has been stolen. Neither you nor I can fight this... Le Papillon? This _vaurien_. We are too old."

"Speak for yourself, I'm only one hundred and eighty-six!" Fū sharply replied, grimacing as his back spasmed, and the Trevenant providing shade for the both of them had to pat his back. "But, you are right. It is time for the Miraculous to enter the world one more, to battle amongst Pokémon, once again. Will you be staying for the show, Mille Yeux?"

The lady crossed her legs. At her feet, a Swanna chirped, the exact same shade of blue as the blue fanned jewel that sparkled upon her forehead. "I must return to Dendemille. My estate needs caring for. And I would rather not see the next Ladybug and Black Cat fall again. One Jeanne was enough to disillusion me, and when Gilles followed her... it was the darkest moment of our lives, Maître Jade."

"Of course, my lady," the man stood up. "Then, may I escort you to the City of Lights?"

" _Bien,_ " whispered the lady. " _À la vie, à la mort_."

* * *

Sprinting through the forest as her Ledyba followed, Marinette Dupain-Cheng cursed her clumsiness again for failing her near an Oran Berry tree. All she had wanted was a few, but no. Also, it turned out that the sticky liquid at the foot of the tree was Honey made by Combee, and the local Vespiquen had not appreciated her intrusion. Hence the current chase she was enduring from the many Combee buzzing for her skin.

Marinette ran past the line of trees and groaned. "No, Tikki, why?!"

They had reached a dead end, a copse of trees so dense that no human could possibly climb through or up. Surrounded on all sides by hostile trees and angry Bug-type Pokémon, Marinette swallowed.

"Tikki, we're stuck!"

The Ledyba buzzed in alarm as the Combee broke through, already assembling into Attack Order. Marinette's eyes widened in panic as the Combee charged to pummel her and her Pokémon.

"Plagg, Thunder Wave!"

The wave hit, the electricity crackling against delicate wings as the Combee fell down.

"Are you alright?!" A blond young man ran up to her, a Purrloin plodding behind him as he held out his hand. "I'm Adrien, Adrien Agreste. How are you?"

"F- Fine!" Marinette stuttered as she pulled his hand to get up. "I'm Ma-"

Their heads clacked together, and Marinette winced in both pain and embarrassment as Adrien clutched at his forehead.

"... _maladroit_." Marinette finished weakly. "Really clumsy. I'm so sorry!"

The Purrloin was laughing at its partner as Adrien weakly waved it off, stepping back away from Marinette. "Don't worry, it's-"

"Watch out!" Marinette screamed as Adrien stepped on a familiar jagged-looking yellow tail.

" _Pikachu_!"

"...oh boy," Marinette murmured once the Thunder Shock cleared. "I'm so sorry!"

"Well," came Adrien's weak reply, "that's a _shock_."

* * *

 _ **Critiquez, s'il vous plaît!**_


	2. I: Les Jardiniers

_**À la Vie, À la Mort**_

* * *

 **I:** **Les Jardiniers**

"Tikki! We can't leave the Parterre!" Marinette Dupain-Cheng complained as she ran behind her starter Pokémon along the smooth pathways of the Santalune Parterre. Being as it was a protected reserve of Ralts, Marinette was valiantly attempting to keep her Ledyba away from the flowers. "Come on! I know we just met, but you really need to calm down! There are Psychic-type Pokémon here!"

Tikki flew up to the top of the bronzed fountain, perching on top of the bronze Clamperl. Around the Clamperl, were four bronze Horsea shooting jets of water towards the statue, and it was beautiful, but right now Marinette was trying to save the local Ralts from their enemy Bugs. Chloé had already thrown a fit after not being able to capture one of the valuable newly-discovered Fairy-type Pokémon and losing to Max, of all people.

"These gardens date back to the _ancien régime_ of Kalosian history," their tour guide, a dark-haired woman standing next to Mme Bustier, was currently explaining to the students. Her clarion voice carried over the air despite the petite frame of the Pokémon Professor from the Sycamore Laboratory. "Walking along the paths at night while listening to some of the impromptu concerts held in the open air inspired artists such as Étienne Mallarmé to write poems that described the beauty of nature. One is extremely famous: _Le Faune d'un après- midi_."1

Mme Bustier cleared her throat, and started quoting:

" _  
Le Faune:  
Ces nymphes, je les veux perpétuer.  
Si clair,  
Leur incarnat léger, qu'il voltige dans l'air  
Assoupi de sommeils touffus.  
Aimai-je un rêve?  
Mon doute, amas de nuit ancienne, s'achève  
En maint rameau subtil, qui, demeuré les vrais  
Bois même, prouve, hélas! que bien seul je m'offrais  
Pour triomphe la faute idéale de roses._" _  
"_

Marinette was more occupied with pleading with her Ledyba. "Tikki, _s'il te plaît_ , come down!"

"M- Madame!" Chloé's voice rang out, pitched much like an alarm. "We're still allowed to catch a Ralts, right?"

"That is an excellent question, Chloé," Mme Bustier replied. "What do you think, Doctor?"

"That might prove difficult for you, Mademoiselle Bourgeois, since Ralts can sense negative emotions, and even the weakest Ralts can handle a Skitty so untrained as to be caught five minutes ago."

"B- But Max caught one!" Chloé screeched over the fountain's burbling as Tikki finally deigned to descend onto Marinette's head.

"Ralts can sense positive emotions," came the reply. "Only one Ralts per group, Madame Bustier. Unless another comes."

"Finally, Tikki," Marinette sighed as she walked back towards the group.

"Unless another comes? You mean, another Ralts chooses to follow one of our students?"

"For _collégiens_ , it is extremely rare to even have one per group," the professor replied. "For two is even rarer. Congratulations, Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng."

"Huh?" Marinette blinked, right before a green head poked out from her tiny pink handbag.

" _Ralts_!"

"Whoa," Adrien commented as the class rushed to have a good look. "Marinette's got another Ralts!"

"Alright, hand it over," Chloé sneered, stalking towards Marinette. Her hand reached out, about to close over the tiny Pokémon. In response, the Ralts started glowing, and a wave of red light would have hit Chloé if not for the professor's physical intervention.

"Confusion would have hit you before that happened, Mlle Bourgeois." Dr du Bois identified unsympathetically. "Mlle Dupain-Cheng, if you intend to catch that Ralts, I will notify the gardeners that two Ralts will be leaving the reserve. If not, I propose you send it back to its parents."

" _Ralts_!" the tiny Pokémon complained as yellow streaks crackled over it.

"It's alright," Marinette cooed over the tiny baby Pokémon. "Nobody will hurt you, I'll keep you away from Chloé."

" _What_?!"

"Oh, do I hear a _Ralts_?" Adrien commented, looking at Chloé.

" _Attendez_ ," Dr du Bois murmured, leaning close to the Pokémon. This close, Marinette could tell that the professor was also had Johto family, like her, but where Marinette was warm, Dr du Bois seemed like ice. Yet the Feeling Pokémon purred at her gentle touch, and allowed her to lift it from Marinette's bag.

"Does your Ledyba possess powder moves or Infestation, Mademoiselle?"

"N- No, Tikki is too young to fight outside of the Little Cup." Marinette replied in confusion.

"Ah." Dr du Bois turned around. "Clear a space! This Pokémon has just been attacked and requires medical attention."

"Ha!" Chloé laughed. "I bet Marinette attacked it, the poor creature. Come to me, I'll give you a home-"

"The Ralts was weakened by paralysis, possibly from Stun Spore, and then attacked with a Bug-type move, probably Infestation," Dr du Bois replied without looking as she pulled a handful of red Berries out from her giant tote. "She probably got on the wrong end of a cross-bred Budew before a Trainer battle. These Cheri Berries are spicy, Mlle Dupain-Cheng, so try not to get the juice on your hands."

The Ralts cringed as she bit into the Berry, but the yellow streaks disappeared and she began to glow a healthy ivory colour. " _Ralts_!"

"You're fairly good at first aid, Doctor," Mme Bustier admired. "Do the Sycamore Lab train all their professors?"

"No, I learnt it on my journey," Dr du Bois stood back up once the treatment was complete, closing her bag. "We of the Sycamore Lab like to prepare our students doing an internship at the Laboratory. Seeing a Ralts in the field is a sign of good luck."

"Thanks!" Marinette held up the Ralts. "Do you want to come with me?"

" _R_ \- _Ralts..._ " the Ralts sniffed, looking over Marinette's shoulder. " _Ralts_..."

"Alright." Marinette beamed at the Ralts. "Let's go find your parents!"

"I will take him to the gardeners," Dr du Bois gently lifted the Ralts from Marinette's hands.

"Bye! See you around!" Marinette cheered, smiling as she watched the Ralts wave from its perch over Dr du Bois' shoulder.

"It's a lovely Pokémon," Adrien told Marinette. "How did you pick one up?"

"I- I don't know, Adrien, she just climbed into my bag! Yeah!" Marinette blushed. "H- How did our guide know that the Ralts was female, anyway?"

"Dr Marguerite Linden du Bois is a Pokémon professor attached to the anthro-Pokémon research wing of the Sycamore Lab." Mme Bustier answered once she was asked. "Marguerite took this tour despite her duties out of a personal favour."

"So the Sycamore Lab is offering an internship?!" Adrien exclaimed, his eyes sparkling.

He was not alone in his enthusiasm; most of the class was babbling, though their volume descended right after Dr du Bois arrived and gave them all a hard stare. After the debacle with Team Flare a few years back, every child had wanted to be the next Daisy Linden and Calem Calme.

"An internship all the way to the Pokémon Leagues?!" Adrien repeated, his eyes alight. Beside him, his Purrloin blinked, yawning.

"You could do that in your own time, Monsieur Agreste." Dr du Bois pointed out as a flock of Combee floated past their class, accompanied with some Flabébé. "In fact, Santalune has its own Pokémon Gym to start training."

* * *

"The girl looks like a good match."

"We need to find two, not just one."

"There's time. There is always time. But which girl?"

"The one with the Ledyba seems nice."

"Again, Jade, I stand by the point that we cannot know who is the best choice for Ladybug."

"Mille Yeux, this is not the place to decide. It is the place to act-" Jade stopped talking as a dark butterfly fluttered over the skies of Santalune. "Papillon is acting outside! He left Lumiose for once!"

An eye-spotted feather shot through the air, only for the butterfly to dodge it. Biting back a curse, Mille Yeux pointed, sending her Swanna up into the air. "Giselle, Air Slash! Get that Akuma!"

Swanna arose with a cry, already in pursuit. Its wings spread, glowing as it sent multiple curves through the air, which the butterfly dodged.

Mille Yeux took to the air on the back of a Skarmory, already edging on the butterfly alongside her Swanna to pin the dark butterfly. "Albrecht, Whirlwind!"

The butterfly ducked away from the whirlwind whipped by wings edged in steel, falling towards Santalune. Abovehead, Mille Yeux frowned as the Whirlwind hit her own Swanna, causing the Pokémon to spiral back to her side.

"Well... he's persistent. What do we do now, Jade?"

* * *

"It's a Bug-type Gym."

Marinette kept hearing Adrien repeat it to himself as she wandered over to the Gym, a fanciful building that resembled an actual palace. The Santalune Boutique Couture was nearby after all, so it was hardly strange that she,a performer by heart, was looking into Pokémon battles.

"It's a Bug-type Gym." Adrien repeated, like the Poffin had just been taken away from him.

"Ah, Purrloin is weak to Bug-types..." Marinette caught Adrien's current subject of worry. "Adrien! Hi!"

"M- Marinette." Adrien absently nodded, barely turning his head to acknowledge her. "Erm..."

"The Boutique Couture is just across," Marinette explained quickly. "Dr du Bois said that this was the first Gym on the Kalos League circuit, and I was just passing through! The hats are very pretty, you know?"

"I haven't seen them." Adrien tersely replied.

Marinette frowned, looking from the nonplussed Plagg and up to its trainer. "Adrien... is there something wrong?"

"I... I just haven't much experience, and I only got Plagg like, two weeks ago." Adrien paused. "And if I fail here, what if I... what if I just... can't break through?"

"I- I'm sure you can make it into the Île-de-l'arc Conference." Marinette insisted, referring to the island where stood the bastion of the Kalos League Champion, the church of Notre Dame.

Adrien stared blankly at the rococo façade of the Santalune Gym. The desire to compete was written all over his face, though the desire faded as fast as it had appeared. He sighed. "My father would never let me. We still have the Vivid spring line to get through."

"Your father isn't the one going on this journey."

"But he'll find out when I register for the gym battles!"

The doors flew open. A boy in a _marinière_ ran out, clutching a Chespin to his chest as he dashed towards the vague direction of the Santalune Pokémon Centre. Adrien hung his head as a blonde woman strolled out.

"Sorry, have either of you seen a boy running-?"

Marinette pointed to the Pokémon Centre.

"Oh, then." The lady blinked. "Are these your first times challenging a Gym, both of you? I'm Viola, the Gym Leader."

Adrien jumped about half a metre clear of the ground. "Y- Yes! I guess..."

"I- I'm not the one who's fighting!" Marinette raised her hands. "No, seriously-"

The blonde woman didn't seem to have heard, if the glint in her eyes was any indication. "Fantastic! Whether it's the tears of frustration that follow a loss or the blossoming of joy that comes with victory, they're both great subjects for my camera! Fantastic! This'll be just fantastic! It's too bad about Hérisson, though."

"The boy who just ran out with a Chespin?" Marinette asked woodenly.

"Yes, it's always tough to start a journey and meet with failure at the first try," Viola frowned. "It's my job to give my best effort here, but... sometimes I don't know how to handle them, you know? Hérisson really tried his best, he brought a Pikachu as his other Pokémon, which both Surskit and Vivillon are weak to."

"Oh," Adrien seemed even paler. "He lost despite the type advantage?"

"Type advantage counts for a fair bit, but it's not everything!" Viola firmly replied. "Well, then, do you want a Gym battle, Monsieur...?"

Adrien's mouth clicked shut as tremors shook the ground, bouncing the two children off the steps of the Santalune Gym as Viola cried out in alarm. A shadow loomed, and Viola dived to pull both children out of a Seed Bomb that crashed onto the steps.

" _Je suis_ _M_ _arronaut_!" bellowed a giant brown monster that was lumbering towards them, arms like tree trunks swinging with each lunge forward. " _Je viens pour un_ _d_ _éfi_ _d'Arène,_ _Viola_ _!_ "

"Go, call Officer Jenny," Viola ordered, tossing two Pokéballs into the air, which burst open to reveal a Surskit and a Savannah-pattern Vivillon. "Surskit, Ice Beam! Vivillon, Sleep Powder!"

"Come on!" Adrien tugged Marinette's hand, unceremoniously dragging her out of the battlefield, Plagg right on his heels. "What is that?!"

"I don't know, it doesn't look like-" Marinette was cut off as two screams and crashes resounded across the rue de Rosélia. "The Pokémon Centre!"

"You go there, I'll go find an officer!" Adrien pushed her towards the building with the distinctive red roof, and ran off.

"Adrien? Adrien!" Marinette shouted in frustration, but choosing to unleash Tikki instead as Marronaut sounded closer to her. "Tikki, we need to save Adrien! Use Bug Buzz!"

Tikki complied, though the sound attack was easily deflected. Marronaut roared, punching the Ledyba. Its fist shone as the attack landed, and Marronaut looked much healthier. Marinette ran towards Tikki, scooping up her Pokémon and running for dear life, right as a trunk-thick arm crossed her back.

It felt like being hit with a baseball bat, except this time she flew into the Roselia fountain in the central plaza. As she sputtered, wincing at her back pain, she spotted Adrien also flying across the central plaza to land in a café terrace, helped by Marronaut. There was shouting, and shooting, and Flamethrowers being tossed about by police Houndour.

Tiredly, Marinette hauled herself out with a dozing Tikki out of the fountain, sputtering. Another arm grabbed her under the shoulder, hauling her out the rest of the way onto her feet.

"So this is Papillon's work." The old man who had helped her out commented. "You are very brave, child."

"T- Thank you, monsieur- but, what is going on?"

"There is a time and place for everything. And now we must go to the Pokémon Centre." The old man walked, with Marinette following in confusion. They were outside the Pokémon Centre now, and the doors were opening, when the old man turned to her and placed an octagonal box in her hands.

" _Ça, c'est la vôtre._ "

" _C'est la mienne_." Marinette repeated.

Marinette blinked. The old man was nowhere to be found, and Nurse Joy was yelling to _get in and close the doors, there were injured people here!_

* * *

An identical box was cradled in Adrian's hand, opened. The silver ring it contained seemed weird, especially when combined with the fact that, as soon as it was revealed, Plagg leapt down from Adrien's shoulder to stare at the ring.

"Well, it's about time."

Adrien started, staring at Plagg. "W- What? You can talk! Wow, it's like the Hoopa out of the bottle!"

"Oh yeah, I met him, he cheats," Plagg yawned. "So he grants wishes, no need to make a Camembert out of it. Plagg, nice to meet you!"

And then Plagg proceeded to try to bite one of the Pokémon Centre's wall fixtures off.

"Wait, stop!" Adrien chased Plagg through corridors thankfully devoid of eyes, managing to trap the Purrloin only by bodily tackling him from above. "What are you? How can you talk? I still don't know what you're doing here!"

"I'm a Kwami, I give powers. You, it's the power of destruction. Understand?"

"Uh, _non_."

"Well, do you have something to eat, I'm starving!"

Adrien glared at the Purrloin. "This is a joke, right? From my father? No, he has no sense of humour..."

"I chose you to be a superhero!" Plagg sighed. ""Well, I actually just mooch off random Trainers at random, it's the cruel life of a Pokémon that's been rendered immortal and bound to miraculous jewels, but what have you. Now, you need to fight Marronaut, break the item the Akuma possessed, and let your... partner... purify it."

Adrien nodded to himself. Something had happened when the old lady in blue had dragged him and tossed him unceremoniously into the Centre, he wanted in. Regardless of the dangers, he wanted to be a hero.

His enthusiasm quickly drained as he thought about the situation with Marronaut. "But I'm stuck here..." Adrien realised. "What good is a superhero if he can't get out of the Pokémon Centre?!"

"None." Plagg smirked. "That's why all this will soon change. If you want it, of course."

Adrien blinked, looking at the ring in his hand.

"Yep. Put on the ring and say 'transform me' and bam, I transform you!" Plagg started. "And then you get Cataclysm, the power of destruction, along with a few Pokémon moves-"

"OK! Plagg, _transformez-moi_!"

"No wait, I didn't finish explaining to you!"

It was too late; green light shown, a Liepard sat where Plagg had been sitting, and Adrien was wearing a skin tight bodysuit of black leather, complete with extra-long belt to make a tail.

"I told you!"

* * *

Unknown to him, Marinette did not share his opinion. Having snuck out to the Centre roof, she was now using her red bandalore to swing out to the Santalune plaza. Marronaut was now facing off against the Galls, multiple special-forces Blaziken bred with Speed Boost, and a few Psychic-type Pokémon, yet somehow it was still holding its ground.

At least it was covered. Marinette didn't feel like the suit covered anything, being essentially skin-tight spandex. The magical bandalore only barely made up for the indignity, holding essentially limitless wire to swing alongside her newly evolved Ledian, Tikki.

"See, I told you that you'd do fine!" Tikki chirped in encouragement with a smile. The smile dropped. "Drain Punch!"

Marinette ducked aside, dodging the glowing fist. Wire played about her as the weight of her bandalore shot towards Marronaut. The juggernaut bellowed, a glowing green shield forming in its hands that deflected the bandalore back, the red dot curving in an arc up-

"Ow!"

-and causing someone in a black cat-suit to fall down.

"Hi." The man waved, still on the ground. "I'm glad to drop in!"

"Sorry, I didn't do it on purpose!" Marinette exclaimed.

"You must be the partner my Kwami mentioned!" The man got up, dusting himself. "I'm... mm... Chat Noir. Yeah, Chat Noir! And you?"

"I'm- Look out!" Marinette tackled Chat Noir away from the flying seeds. They embedded themselves into the ground, sprouting into vines.

"Leech Seed!" She realised. "He can use Pokémon moves!"

"Oh, this will be interesting," Chat Noir commented as a Liepard landed lightly next to him, looking like it would rather be elsewhere. "Don't worry, I'm just starting out too! _Allons-y_!"

"Wait, where are you going?!" Marinette exclaimed as Chat Noir pulled a telescopic staff from his belt and used it to vault towards a series of rooftops.

"To save Santalune, no?!" Chat Noir bellowed as he ran towards the eye of the storm. How anyone could have such confidence...

"I can do this, I can do this..." Marinette muttered to herself, using her bandalore to pull herself up to the same roof and follow along Chat Noir's footsteps, screaming internally and externally. It was thus that she arrived at the carnage outside of the Santalune Gym with a hoarse voice.

Granted, her voice didn't seem too awkward. Marronaut was trapped in the middle of a Sticky Web. Viola was on hand along with her two Pokémon, and she was shouting orders to both Surskit and Vivillon, cradling her left arm close to her body. The Marronaut also seemed to be favouring his left arm, though given the thickness of said limbs, Marinette judged that it was less of a problem for him than the Gym Leader.

"Surskit, Ice Beam!" Viola bellowed. "Vivillon, Hurricane!"

Marronaut bellowed in response as both a miniature cyclone and a cool blue beam hit it true. Its shield flashed, green spikes standing against it. The green vines at its feet shimmered.

"Spiky Shield, Leech Seed, Drain Punch..." Marinette landed on her feet as Tikki cried out in panic. "Madame Viola is fighting it...! Tikki, use Reflect!"

Tikki did as told, causing a rainbow curtain of light to fall over Viola's team and surround the Marronaut.

Marinette blinked as a flash of black crossed over. "Wait! Chat Noir!"

A Liepard landed next to Chat Noir, as the boy grinned. "Swagger!"

"Wait!" Marinette rushed, but Marronaut started thrashing as it got confused, tossing Seed Bombs about that imploded, but left Marronaut fairly unharmed though it winged both Surskit and Vivillon.

Marinette quickly held Chat Noir back with her explanation. "Leech Seed and Drain Punch will replenish its health, and Seed Bomb will hit everything else except Marronaut himself. He probably has the Bulletproof ability. You can't hope to confuse Marronaut like this!"

"Huh?" Chat Noir gaped. "B- But, Foul Play!"

"What if his Spiky Shield goes off?!" Marinette immediately seized on one problem. "We need to get rid of Leech Seed first."

"Oh? No problem, miss. Let's use our powers. Cataclysm!" A dark aura formed over his hand. "Apparently, I can destroy everything I touch!"

"I don't actually need superpowers to destroy everything- wait, Chat Noir!" Marinette exclaimed as Chat Noir and his Liepard rushed off against Marronaut. "What about the..."

Marinette trailed off as the vines of Leech Seed, entwined with Sticky Web, aged and broke before her eyes, Chat Noir skidding to a pause to touch Marronaut...

...and nothing happened.

Chat Noir came flying over her head, to crash into the trunk of a tree by the roadside.

"Our powers can only be used once!" Marinette started as Chat Noir started to get up. "And after that, you only have five minutes until you de-transform, did your Kwami not explain that, or what?"

"Er, it seems I was in too much of a hurry to listen!" Chat Noir had a sheepish grin.

"Fine, my turn!" Marinette took a deep breath, studying Marronaut as he bellowed, still in the throes of confusion with the rotted vines of Leech Seed hanging off of him. "Lucky Charm!"

From her magical bandalore came a flash of red light, and it dropped something into her hands.

"A magnet?" Chat Noir cackled at the horseshoe magnet that had landed in her hands. "You don't need help in attracting people, Mademoiselle!"

Marinette glared at the magnet. "My Kwami told me we need to break the object the Akuma hid in."

"Except that he doesn't have anything on him," Chat Noir pointed towards the confused Marronaut, who was busy tearing apart the steps of the Santalune Gym.

"Not my Gym!" Viola snapped. "Surskit, Ice Beam his legs!"

The attack hit, causing Marronaut to bellow in agony as it got stuck.

"Marronaut is... a Chesnaught..." Marinette stared. "Grass/Fighting type... Seed Bomb... physical attack... Drain Punch... also physical... it's got a serious weakness to Flying... Chat Noir, paralyse him!"

"Huh?" Chat Noir blinked. "But I-"

"Trust me!" Marinette insisted, tying the magnet around her

Chat Noir nodded, holding out his hand with fingers spread. "Thunder Wave!"

"Reflect!" Marinette called to the Ledian, who duly cast another screen. "Madame Viola! It's a Chesnaught! Flying-type moves!"

"Got it!" The Gym Leader, her camera askew around her neck, shouted back. "Vivillon! Hurricane!"

Marinette felt the breeze as she threw her bandalore, the horseshoe magnet following the winds being whipped up by Vivillon towards Chesnaught. Its centrifugal force caused the weight to snap into the big monster's hands, the magnet and its magic latching onto the metal ball hidden within, and bouncing the bandalore and its new load into Marinette's hands. Marronaut bellowed, his reflexes too slowed by electricity to help.

Vaguely, Marinette winced as she smashed the Pokéball against the ground. The two halves detached, releasing a purple butterfly into the wake of the Hurricane, and with it the Marronaut began to break apart.

"She's awesome..." Chat Noir started to gush. "She's crazy awesome...!"

Viola collapsed, watching as Marronaut dissolved, causing an unconscious Hérisson to fall onto the ground. The girl in red polka-dotted spandex started to talk to the black cat-boy. Beside them, the Liepard and Ledian were making noise, indicating the clearing skies of Santalune.

As the two heroes decided to run, Viola came to her senses and snapped a photograph. "Young Trainers... no, young heroes... you, and your Pokémon, have shown me a whole new depth of field!"

* * *

 _ **Critiquez, s'il vous plaît !**_

 ** _1 The author, title, and part of the poem is cited in-text, do I still need to cite them again? Then again, this is a fanfic._**


	3. II: Sous le ciel

_**À la Vie, À la Mort**_

* * *

 **II:** **Sous le ciel**

The HoloTélé app was running on her personal computer as Marinette entered her room. After Team Flare had been disbanded, the properties of Lysandre Fleur-de-Lis had been effectively regionalised when the Pokémon League took control. Nowadays, there were many brands of Holo Caster about, for dirt-cheap prices at near-identical functionalities.

" _Hello! It's time for Gym Freaks, your source for the hottest news about hot Gym Leaders in Kalos. So, I'm now in front of the Santalune City Gym! Earlier today, as everyone might know by now, the Santalune Gym suffered an attack from a bona-fide supervillain! The Santalune Gym Leader, Viola, has been hospitalised in fighting against this threat that called itself the Marronaut. The heroine of the hour has graciously allowed a teleconference, seeing as we can't exactly bring our equipment into a hospital! Bonsoir, Madame Violette!"_

" _Bonsoir."_

" _Now, then, Madame Violette, what can you say about the attack on the Santalune Gym?"_

" _Oh, it was horrendous, attacking the Gym for no reason. At least there were no casualties or fatalities, thanks to two heroes!"_

" _Two heroes?"_

" _Yes, I couldn't have done it without them! Here's the image! You can see that there's two people. One is in black leather, and the other is in red polka-dotted spandex!"_

" _Wow! So it's thanks to these images from Madame Violette that we now know our saviours! Oh, that's all for the on-site report. Good-bye for now, everyone."_

"I did it, Tikki!" Marinette squealed to her de-evolved Ledyba. Sure, it was a bit weird that it could talk, but their world was a fun and mysterious place with monsters that could control the weather, cause natural disasters, fly into space, possess items, and... Tikki was, to put it mildly, not the weirdest thing possible.

"I knew you could do it!" Tikki nuzzled her cheek. "Jeanne said the same thing too!"

"Who's Jeanne?"

"Jeanne of Cromlac'h. A previous holder of the Ladybug Miraculous."

"You mean, Jeanne d'Arc?!"

...Tikki was not the weirdest. Yet.

"Marinette!" Her father's voice sounded from below. "To the table!"

Since her parents were usually occupied with the bakery at night, their dinner was more hearty than elaborate. Today's dinner was composed of _steak frites_ with brown sauce, matched with green peas, and a _garbure_ made with this morning's leftover baguette, flavoured with grated Gruyère from the Baa de Mer Ranch on Fourrage Road.

"Wow!" Marinette stared at the spread. "This is... a lot of food."

Her mother gave a tight smile. "The best for you, Marinette."

As the family dug in, sound from the television in their combined kitchen and living room washed over the homely place on the Jaune Plaza.

" _Professor Sycamore, would you say that this Marronaut is a new form of spontaneous evolution?_ "

"Mais non! _Not new, at any rate. We theorise that it is a symptom of a link between Trainer and Pokémon, that results in such a spontaneous new form. I hesitate to use such a description to describe Pokémon, but I hypothesise that it is the love of a Pokémon to fulfil its Trainer's wish that drives such a transformation... Such madness and rage... They love their trainers and dreams so much, that they come to despise anything that stands between their Trainer and the League Championship..._ "

This was her life, Marinette thought. An ordinary life, sans talking Pokémon and supervillains. Things are as they should be.

* * *

Vivillon of many colours fluttered about a lone figure, illuminated by soft white light that made him seem ethereal. The butterfly-shaped brooch that sparkled at the throat of his cravat seemed, itself, to be one of these colourful Pokémon amidst the Butterfree, Venomoth, Beautifly and Mothim that surrounded his stance. The cane that he held in his hands bent slightly under his curse.

"I was a bit late there," he softly murmured, touching the glass orb atop his cane, where a dark butterfly continued to flutter. "No matter. The Ladybug and the Black Cat have been released."

He unscrewed the orb. The butterfly fluttered out, approaching the butterfly-themed stained-glass window Le Papillon was admiring, and passing through a small hole within. As it flew under the skies of Lumiose, it began to multiply, a horde of new butterflies dark as the night descending upon the city of lights.

* * *

The next morning, Tom Dupain was already preparing the day's goods in the Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie when the news came in of the Marronaut proliferation. A shop-girl who worked near Lumiose Station had come into the bakery to put together her lunch, and dropped the news as blithely as if commenting on the weather.

"They're all around Lumiose now, turned from people and Pokémon alike." said the girl. "The two Skiddo outside the station too. Oh, one of those pasties, please."

She was surprised when Tom lost his breath and had to steady himself on the counter.  
"I'm sorry, Monsieur Dupain," said the girl. "I didn't know you knew them."

Tom waved to dismiss her concern. "No, not at all. It's just a bit too close for comfort, you know."

"Oh, yes, _monsieur_." The girl quickly nodded. "Can you recommend anything for Pokémon?"

He composed himself. He was in his forties, large, bearing a moustache, with dark hair that swept across his forehead, and dark eyes so brown that they seemed to draw light from a room. There were hungry customers to feed. "The _chausson au Baie Grena_ is good," he spoke, wiping his hands before he started to untie his apron.

"Oh, no thank you, _monsieur_." The girl nodded, paid her Poké, and left.

" _M_ _a chère_ , I'm going to check on something before Marinette starts school." Tom made for the staircase immediately.

Sabine Cheng poked her head out of the kitchen. "I heard Emmanuelle. I agree with you, dear."

Tom brushed flour from his trousers as he made his way up to the second floor, where he spotted his daughter already washing up. Exchanging absent greetings, Tom immediately switched on the HoloTélé.

" _While Lumiose was ready to celebrate the appearance of two as-yet unknown superheroes, a new wave of panic sweeps the capital as dozens of people change into plant monsters!_ " The newscaster Nadja Chamakh was saying. " _It's simply unbelievable! For now, these Marronauts seem to be inactive – being as still as statues. What will become of them? Will they awaken one day, or stay still for eternity?_ "

A dull _thunk_ resounded. Marinette gaped at the television, which definitely showed the façade of the Lumiose Station right around their bakery.

"That's worrying."

* * *

"Yuck, you want me to eat _this_?!" Plagg waved about a tidily assembled Pecha Melba. The dessert of sliced Pecha Berries in Pomeg sauce with vanilla ice cream was waved about by his paws, nearly dislodging the umbrella stuck atop it. It was a very Bastiquois way of eating breakfast, all the way from Kiloude City. Adrien could not see Plagg's problem.

"Are you kidding?" Adrien sighed at the mass of unopened trays on the coffee table in front of a large-screen television. "Our starred chef made everything!"

"If you want me to regenerate after a transformation, I need dishes that are more delicate!"

"Okay." Adrien starred at his talking Purrloin. "What do you want?"

"Cheese. Camembert, specifically."

"NO!"

"Perfect," Adrien complained after an hour, staring at the news. "He only eats stinky Camembert, which means I'm going to stink all day because of him."

" _...It's simply unbelievable! For now, these Marronauts seem to be inactive – being as still as statues. What will become of them? Will they awaken one day, or stay still for eternity?_ "

Adrien blinked slowly. "Plagg... what's going on? We defeated it!"

Plagg's head turned around, claws sinking into his precious Camembert. "Did you capture the Akuma?"

* * *

"What's the connection between the Akuma and the Marronauts?" Marinette demanded as Tikki had more or less the same reaction as Plagg, though neither Kwami nor humans noticed.

"An Akuma can multiply itself!" Tikki hurriedly explained, floating about Marinette's room and buzzing like the Ledyba she was. "That's why we have to capture them! And if Hérisson feels negative emotions again, the Akuma will transform him back into Marronaut, and he'll control every transformed person and they'll form his army!"

"So that means... everything is my fault?!" Marinette freaked. "I knew it! See, Tikki. I'm not cut out to be a superheroine! Whatever I do, I screw up!"

"Calm down, it was your first time!" the talking Ledyba stopped over Mayor André Bourgeois' face on the screen. "You just go capture the Akuma and this time, you'll succeed!"

"I can't, I told you!" Marinette yelled back. "I'm clumsy, I provoke disasters all the time! I'm only making things worse for me, for you, for everyone! Chat Noir will do better without me. I... I give up."

"But Chat Noir can't capture the Akuma!" Tikki argued. "Only Ladybug can do that, and fix the damage caused by the supervillains!"

Marinette sighed, walking towards her dresser and washstand. "If Chat Noir can't capture them, then find another Ladybug... I already told you, I'm not cut out to be Ladybug."

Tikki stared at her. "But I can't leave you," said the Pokémon.

"I'm sorry, Tikki..." Marinette moved to take off her earrings, the ones that started it all.

"No, don't do that-"

The voice cut off.

"Tikki?" Marinette looked up to her Pokémon. The Ledyba stared at her with empty eyes, unable to converse further.

Marinette sighed, putting the earrings away in its box and biting her bottom lip. "I'm so sorry, Tikki..."

The box slid into Marinette's bag. Tikki was recalled into her Pokéball, and Marinette watched it shrink before placing it right next to the octagonal box.

* * *

Blaziken Mask's activities had dropped much since the fall of Team Flare, but Lumiose City did not seem to require another hero to make up the shortfall. Santalune City was a peaceful city somewhere around the same metropolitan area, which made it a challenge to determine if the mysterious duo were permanently stationed there, or just passing through. Nevertheless, HoloTélé was fairly optimistic, citing the old adage of _tous les chemins mènent à Illumis_.

It was thus with an air of vague optimism that Adrien managed to escape towards his middle school after breakfast. He was running on the rue Germinal entering Jaune Plaza, when Plagg finally spoke.

"What a strange boy," Plagg commented whilst hanging onto Adrien's jacket. "Why would you want to go to school instead of staying peacefully at home?"

"You don't understand, Plagg!" Adrien hissed back. "I'm sick of staying at home because of my father! I want to meet people, make friends, and go to school everyday like everyone else!"

Plagg did not seem to be listening. "I'm feeling faint again..."

"This is a joke, right?" Adrien stopped to rifle through his bag. "You only eat Camembert, alright. But _I'm_ the one who has to carry it. The result is, I smell like a cheese shop, _that's_ what's strange!"

"Well, if you want me to transform you, you have to accept smelling like old socks." Plagg reasoned, smirking as he clambered back onto Adrien's shirt, and Adrien ran all the way across Jaune Plaza, up to the steps of the Collège Françoise Dupont.

A car screeched across the road, and stopped by the side-walk as Adrien ascended the steps. The door opened.

"Adrien, don't do this! Your father will be furious!"

Adrien turned around to look at his caretaker, smartly dressed in a power suit. "Tell him you arrived too late. Please!"

He ran into the school, one fist thrown up in victory-

"Ow!"

"Adrien?!" Marinette rushed to help up the groggy teen model who had walked into a posed hay-maker. "Yes, Ivan got transformed into one of the... erm... you... walked into... him."

" _Bonjour_ , Marinette," Adrien gasped, recovering his breath. In his haste to get into school, he had accidentally walked into a transformed statue of Marronaut, a hulking stern figure that watched all students entering the main entrance of the Collège. "I'm fine!"

A lot better than Ivan, he thought.

"Why are they even tolerating that horrible plant-monster about?" Chloé's strident screech tore through the morning home-room as Adrien followed Marinette into their classroom. "I don't feel safe! My Papa will hear about this!"

The classroom was organised like an amphitheatre, the students' seats rising up from the central teacher's platform. Immediately, Adrien slid into the front row, Marinette occupying the row right behind him.

" _Salut_!" Nino greeted him and they bumped fists, Adrien with some slightly stiffness about the gesture. "How are you, man?"

"Walked into Ivan today." Adrien made a face.

"Yeah, poor guy," Nino visibly wilted. "You know, I thought you'd be, what, stuck in your house after visiting the Parterre?"

Being a Lumiose native, Adrien had been looking forward to the pre-trimester visit to Santalune City. After getting Plagg, Adrien's father had been slightly more relaxed, by allowing him to bring the Purrloin along, and that was when he had met Nino. They had hit it off after an incident involving a Chloé, a Combee and its honey, and Nino had proceeded to deadpan: "It's time you made new friends, dude."

Adrien had not held out too much hope about escaping home-schooling for a while, hence the pleasant surprise of seeing his friend of two days. Marinette was... different. Like, Adrien got the feeling that she was avoiding him, that type of different.

Adrien shook his head, focusing as Mme Bustier entered the classroom. Today was the start of school! Hopefully he could see this term through without more than a few days stuck at home.

* * *

 _L'Hôpital de la_ _Luminosité Éternelle_ was Lumiose City's oldest and first hospital. First founded by Landry, Marquis of Astère and Peer of Kalos, as a field hospital in the wake of the lifting of the siege of Lumiose, it had served many cases and withstood many crises in Lumiose. Now, within its heavy stone walls, human and Pokémon staff alike were trying to restrain the Marronaut that had just burst out of one isolated ward that was supposed to contain a certain Chespin.

"Its Trainer was inside, right?!" yelled a male nurse who was measuring out ten cubic centimetres of sedative. "How is it, Dr Altair?"

Blue paws flashed as the Lucario cast Aura Sphere against the Marronaut. « _Call Matron Chansey. She knows Ice Beam._ »

"Doc, you may be telepathic and all, but I don't think attacking a patient is going to help," the nurse pointed out

« _Our focus now is to stop any harm from covering our patients!_ » The Lucario conjured a Flash Cannon.

He was too late; the Marronaut crashed through the walls of the hospital, scattering debris about the rue Brumaire and into the Rivière Vin as it walked down the paved street, in the direction of the Prism Tower, the emblem of Kalos. « _It escaped..._ »

"What do we do now?"

« _Call the relevant authorities, Lucien. Our patient has escaped and is a danger to Lumiose at large. I can only hope that we reach in time..._ »

* * *

"Agreste, Adrien!"

Adrien blinked. "Yes?"

"You need to answer 'here'," Nino whispered to him.

"Er... present!" Adrien stood up, hand raised at Nino's prompt, to the class' amusement and that of the _institutrice_.

"Bourgeois, Chloé."

"Here!"

"Bruel, Ivan- ah, yes." Mme Bustier paused in consternation as the building began to shake. "What is going on-?"

A bestial bellow answered her innocent query. With a loud explosion, the inside windows of the classroom blew in, with more than a few screams. Seeds scattered around the broken shatter-proof glass as the Marronaut started to toss Seed Bombs about.

"Hey!" Chloé whined, tossing up a Pokéball that burst open to reveal a Meowth. "Meowth, Scratch!"

The cat-like Pokémon sniffed, yowling as Chloé tossed it bodily at the Marronaut. It growled back, grabbing Chloé and dragging her out screaming from the classroom.

In the midst of the chaos, Adrien slipped out.

"The Marronaut is moving!" Alya stated. It sounded like her mind was still catching up, because she was still staring at the exploded arboreal ordnance of Ivan Bruel, unwillingly turned Marronaut.

On her table, her Dedenne squeaked, causing electric sparks to skitter over their table. " _Denne_!"

"Yes, Bougie." Alya rolled her eyes, which were now glowing with excitement. "We need to follow him! Come on, Marinette, you come along too!"

"No, no, you go ahead," Marinette refused. "I'd rather stay here, safe..."

"But come on, you're gonna miss the action!" Alya complained.

Marinette mulled over her words, secretly stashing the octagonal box and Tikki's Pokéball inside of Alya's bag. "You'll make it out better without me," Marinette shook her head, offering Alya the bag.

"As you wish!" Alya ran out.

"Hey, your bag!" Marinette yelled, running after her friend.

* * *

"My first day of school, and I didn't even get past the roll call," Adrien sighed as he ran along the rooftops of the shophouses along the banks of the Vin, straight after the rampaging Marronaut. "Great, now is for homework!"

Chloé, on the other hand, was clearly audible over the rampage. "...In short, the entire cavalry!" she had been saying right as Adrien did a mid-air flip and brained the Marronaut with his staff.

"Let's not forget the superheroes!" Chat Noir yelled.

The staff harmless bounced off of its armoured carapace, and the monster growled.

"You mean, the super-incompetent?!" Chloé sneered, before screaming as she was waved about.

" _Le Miraculous!_ " bellowed the Marronaut, right as a whole troop of them rumbled down the run Brumaire. Since a normal Chesnaught could dead-lift a fifty-ton tank, Chat Noir and his Liepard immediately cast a Thunder Wave on one Marronaut at the front and prepared to face off against the rest. It was mainly dodging and glancing blows from there, and Plagg was getting exhausted after casting three Substitutes just to narrowly dodge a few Drain Punches and Seed Bombs.

"If you hear me, Mademoiselle, I wouldn't mind a little help...!" Chat started praying for the mysterious girl to come.

* * *

Marinette skidded to a stop at the alleys branching of Avenue Ventôse, right at the point where there was a car bouncing against the street towards Alya. Chat Noir's staff seemed to move in slow motion, though the superhero tossed it with enough force to deflect the brunt of the car's weight at its centre of gravity. The car listed, Alya's squeal echoing with its metal shriek.

From above came a flock of Les Poules five Blaziken, each fiery and strong as they lashed out with their attacks, chasing- no, herding the Marronauts with fire. The Marronauts, on their part, kept lashing out with Leech Seeds and Drain Punches, but a big part of the fighting was clearly centred around a currently weapon-less and increasingly harried Chat Noir.

Alya's bag slid from Marinette's hands as she watched Chat Noir get trapped in the vines of Leech Seed. She gasped as Alya struggled from the top of the car, and a Flare Blitz started to flash-burn the paint off of the Citron-Voiture.

The CV might be the most environmentally-friendly car currently on the Kalos market, but a loud explosion along with a squawk reminded Marinette of the unpleasant side effect of a water-fuelled car's pure waste oxygen coming in contact with fire.

"Help!" Alya started to shout. "Help!"

One of the Blaziken broke off to walk back, but then hesitated. A moment of confusion later, Marinette understood why; the Blaziken was looking down at the car's leaking undercarriage, and the rainbow patina did not bode well for any contact with fire.

The puddle grew with increasing speed, and the Blaziken immediately stepped back, away from the rainbow of flammable petrols. A stray spark fell off of its body as it leapt away and back into battle, and a separate puddle caught on fire under Marinette's increasingly panicked gaze.

The decision was made.

"I need to transform!" Marinette told Tikki after donning the Miraculous earrings and summoning the Ledyba.

"I knew you'd change your mind!" Tikki cheered.

"I'm still not sure if I'm cut out for this, but Alya is in danger, I can't just stand there!" Marinette declared. "Tikki, _transformez_ - _moi_!"

* * *

Alya felt like it was the first time since forever that she could breathe. Once the car had somehow moved, and she managed to crawl to the open ground's safety, she saw the polka-dotted heroine walking, pulling a... yo-yo... back into her hand.

"Don't stay around here, it's too dangerous," the heroine ordered as she picked up Chat Noir's fallen staff with a twirl of her wrist.

"Unbelievable, incredible, fabulous!" Regardless of her unknown brush with death, Alya was already taking out her Holo Caster. "Are you the one who's going to protect Lumiose now? Where did you get your powers? Oh, I have so many questions to ask you, Mademoiselle, Mademoiselle, er..."

"...Ladybug." The heroine smiled. "Call me Ladybug."

She shot off, through the throngs of Blaziken and Marronauts, leaving an awestruck amateur journalist behind.

Chat Noir, on the other hand, got a pleasant surprise when he was pulled to hang upside-down courtesy of a bandalore, away from the receiving end of a nasty Drain Punch.

"Sorry for the delay, Chat Noir!" said his angel of the battlefield.

"Have I told you how much you knock me upside-down?" Chat Noir immediately fired back, grinning. "I don't even have your name."

"Ah, you're the joking type, aren't you?" came the retort. "Call me Ladybug."

She winced as a Seed Bomb exploded, blocked only by two of the Poules. "Fancy taking the high road? We need to get away quickly."

The magical yo-yo and its seemingly infinite store of wire took them out of the skirmish, and they were soon running along the chimneys of the Avenue des Champs-Dorées. Ladybug and Chat Noir ran on the chimneys, skipping above the roads along the west side of the Vin. By some accident of fate, some buskers were playing on a barge floating on the river:

 _Hier soir, deux inconnus  
Et ce matin sur l'avenue,  
Deux amoureux tout étourdis,  
par la longue nuit_ _!_ _  
Et de l'Étoile à la Concorde,  
Un orchestre à mille cordes,  
Tous les oiseaux du point du jour  
Chantent l'amour !_ _  
_

"Hey, aren't we gonna take care of them?!" Chat Noir yelled as he chased after Ladybug's zipping figure.

"No," Ladybug curtly replied as their route turned to lead them them straight towards the heart of Lumiose, the Centrico Plaza and its shining Prism Tower. "If we want to save them all, we only need to focus on one!"

They landed on their feet right at the edge of the Centrico Plaza. This happened, right as a piercing scream echoed with a bestial holler:

" _Je viens pour un défi d'Arène_!"

"That's not going to happen any time soon, there." Chat Noir murmured, looking at the scene.

The chief Marronaut, if that was a way to describe the biggest of them so far, was atop the central ledge of the Prism Tower. Its insides used to be hollow, but the wonders of architecture had allowed the family of its initial builder Gustav Citron to build and enhance it, until it resembled not the hollow metal structure it had been, but a fully high-tech building that withstood Pokémon battles on a regular basis. Hence, it was also the current headquarters of the Lumiose City Gym, the fifth on the Kalos circuit.

It was also the cause of many blackouts courtesy of its Gym Leader's wild inventions. This time, though, Clemont was actually not at fault, being very involved in the defence of his Gym at the moment.

"Emolga, Acrobatics!"

A flash of black and white surrounded the Marronauts next to the chief, attacking in a crash-dive and tipping them off of the tower. Sadly, they also took Clemont off the central ledge, but the Gym Leader's backpack released a piton cord to slow his descent down to the ground, where they continued to do battle.

"I demand you give me my daughter back!" The mayor of Lumiose was shouting through a megaphone. "Get him, Clemont!"

Marronaut and Gym Leader exchanged glances, before Marronaut grinned. " _Avec grand plaisir_."

Clemont screamed as the blonde girl was bodily flung down the Prism Tower.

" _IfIgetoutofthisalive, I'llbenicetoeveryone, I swear-!_ "

Skidding across the paving of the Lumiose Gym's front entrance, Lumiose City's newest superhero scooped up Chloé Bourgeois before she hit the ground.

"Ididn'tswear."

"What?" Ladybug echoed as she put Chloé down, the Bourgeois heiress running to her father almost immediately.

"Where are the chickens?! We can give the assault!" the cry went up, led by Lieutenant Roger.

The flock of Blaziken that Marinette had seen earlier alighted around the police cordon surrounding the Prism Tower. Each of them readied to use moves of terrifying power; moves that would never have been taught to any Pokémon Trainer with less than eight badges or the explicit permission of the Pokémon League. These Pokémon would attack, because battle was all that they knew, and the cause was what the police of Lumiose had decided.

"Wait!" Ladybug blocked the Lieutenant. "Don't attack him! You'll only make it worse-"

"No, we don't need superheroes! Move aside and let the pros do their thing!" Lieutenant Roger rebutted. "You've already failed once!"

"Eh" Ladybug frowned, hesitating before she turned to Chat Noir. "He has good reason. If I had captured the Akuma, none of this would have happened. I'm really not cut out to be a superheroine..."

"But what are you talking about?" Chat Noir cut in, concerned. "That's not true. Without you, this girl wouldn't be here anymore." He indicated Chloé, still occupied with her father, with a nod. "So pull yourself together, my lady. Without us, they won't make it, and we're gonna prove it!"

Fingers clothed in black leather clasped her shoulders. "Trust me on this. Okay?"

Blink. Blink. "...okay."

Wing-beats resounded about, and multiple echoes reverberated about the Centrico Plaza as multiple dark butterflies spewed forth from the large Marronaut, forming a giant head.

" _My dear Lumiosiens,_ " it spoke in Standard. " _I am Le Papillon._ "

"Le Papillon?!" The same echo of fear and confusion seemed to be expressed about Lumiose City.

" _Ladybug. Chat Noir. Give me your Miraculouses. The ladybug's earrings, and the black cat's ring. These innocents have suffered enough because of you!_ "

There was a beat. The flow of opinion seemed at a still. It was uncertain of which direction to turn, forward or back.

"Nice try," a lone applause sounded as Ladybug strode towards the Prism Tower. "But we know who the bad guy is. Let's not reverse the roles here. Without you, none of these innocent victims would be transformed into Chesnaught berserkers!"

"Papillon!" Ladybug continued, her voice a clarion that cut through the confusion. "It does not matter how long. We will find you. And then you'll be the one giving us your Miraculous!"

A yo-yo, as it turned out, made a great way to cut through the projection of illusionary insects, and then all of Lumiose City watched in awe and no small amount of admiration as Ladybug and her Ledian, having shot forward and leapt to the central ledge of the Eiffel Tower, addressed them.

"I swear to all of you. No matter who wants to harm all of you, Ladybug and Chat Noir will do everything in their power to help you!" So saying, she pressed a catch-release on her bandalore, which opened to release the butterflies, now purified and a clean eggshell white. Like a puff of light, they spread across the capital of Kalos, the most beautiful, heralding cheers despite the situation.

"I love her, this girl," Chat Noir gushed privately, dashing forward to climb the Prism Tower. Le Papillon must have made his move while he was moving, because all Chat Noir heard when he finally reached the central ledge was: " _Hé! J'accepte ce défi!_ " and then the rustle of vines.

"Leech Seed, Spiky Shield, Drain Punch, Seed Bomb- Reflect!" The curtain of white light that descended over the Prism Tower was, Chat Noir was sure, from the Ledian. It protected the intervention groups and their Pokémon, but it did not change the fact that the Prism Tower was surrounded by essentially armoured tanks, and the Gym Leader on their side was an Electric-type specialist going against Grass-types. He was useless-

"Emolga, Acrobatics! Heliolisk, Dark Pulse!"

"Scratch that," Chat Noir muttered to himself. "Our Lumiose City Gym Leader is more than useful. Thunder Wave, Plagg."

« _Oh, like you have the right to say anything,_ » the Liepard huffed telepathically, but dutifully cast a Thunder Wave that surprisingly out-sped many Leech Seeds. « _Pranksters flock together, you know._ »

"A Prankster Liepard? Aren't they, like, really rare?!" Ladybug shouted, flipping away from the vines of Leech Seed. "Lucky Charm!"

Into her hand dropped...

Her face fell slightly as she stared at the giant red polka-dotted shears, but then brightened. She figured out what to do.

"Chat Noir!" She turned to the other. "Can you make him sink?"

In response, Chat Noir simply raised his hand. "Cataclysm!"

The solid steel underfoot rotted and peeled as Chat Noir ran a line around the Marronaut. It gave way, sinking ever so slightly and pushing the Marronaut of its bellowing centre. Ladybug then started cutting through the vines easily with the shears. The Marronaut, seeing her approach, raised its giant left hand – the hand that it had been protecting all the while.

"Ledian! Aerial Ace!"

The Ledian knocked down from the clenched hand another Pokéball. This time, Ladybug stomped on it, and her bandalore was on hand to capture the dark butterfly that escaped from its confines. "I free you from evil!"

She pressed the catch-release, watching the pure white butterfly flutter away under the skies of Lumiose. Following Tikki's earlier instructions, she tossed the shears into the air with an activation keyword:

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

A strobe effect seemed to ripple across the city, all damages fixed in a flash of light, or magic, or possibly even Dialga turning the flow of events back with its Roar of Time. The world started to stitch itself back together, under a curtain of light.

" _Merveilleux..._ " the sentiments seemed to spread in the ancient city. " _Incroyable... miraculeux...!_ "

* * *

Marguerite Linden du Bois watched the evening news with little concern. Ladybug and Chat Noir were, of course, the hottest topics, as were speculations about the nature of the Miraculous that Le Papillon was looking for; enough to dupe a young Trainer and his Chespin.

Beside her, Altair was going through a kata in slow motion. Behind her, a shadow arose, watching with turquoise eyes as it tapped words across a keyboard attached to a tablet:

 _The_ _Incroyables_ _("incredibles") and their female counterparts, the Merveilleuses ("marvellous women", roughly equivalent to "fabulous divas"), were members of a fashionable aristocratic subculture in Illumis during the Directory era of the XVII century. They greeted the new regime post-Revolution with an outbreak of luxury, decadence, and even silliness; whether as catharsis or simply to forget the horrors of Terror. They held hundreds of balls and started fashion trends in clothing and mannerisms that today seem exaggerated, affected, or even effete (decadent, self-indulgent). Some devotees of the trend preferred to be called "_ incoyable _" or "_ meveilleuse _", thus avoiding the letter R, as in "_ _révolution_ _." When this period ended, society took a more sober and modest turn._

 _As terror and violence rages across the regions of humans and Pokémon at the present, there arises costumed heroes that used their power to do the right thing now. It must be noted that in classical times, heroism was a statement on a demigod's power; only with the moral revision of the Kanto Pokémon League did heroism come to be associated with moral purity, becoming the modern superhero. Kalosian society today is depressed, following the fall of Team Flare. Despite their means to destroy all that is ugly about the world, there was, I admit, a canonical power about the preachings of Lysandre Fleur-de-Lis and Team Flare with their protection of the world's beauty._

 _Now, a new canonical power may have spread across Kalos; a narrative of humans that possesses the strength of Pokémon and the moral fortitude of Lucario, those that defend against villains that have similar powers of their own. The sentiment is here; the marvel of garish costumes and accessories, combined with the grace of movement, and the fascinations of their power that captures the hearts of Kalos..._ merveilleuse incroyable miraculeux _._

The shadow examined his work. « _Will this be alright, Marguerite?_ »

Turning her head, Marguerite's green eyes stared at the shadows. "Yes, it will be for a thesis proposal. Now, time to turn in, my dear. Tomorrow you'll be teaching at middle school. I can't wait to see their faces."

* * *

 _ **The song-part is from '**_ _ **Les Champs-Élysées'**_ _ **by Joe Dassin. It translates like this:**_

" _ **  
Yesterday evening, two strangers  
This morning on the avenue  
Two lovers all dazed  
By the long night  
And of the Star at the Concord  
An orchestra with thousand cords  
All the birds at daybreak  
Sing of their love.  
"**_

 _ **Critiquez, s'il vous plaît !**_


	4. III: Cherchons la femme

_**À la Vie, À la Mort**_

 _ **A/N: I actually realised that nobody was going to be able to understand where in Lumiose City the battles in Chapter 3 take place without a map, hence my choice of posting a map in the AO3 edition. However, due to formatting here, I've elected to put links on my profile allowing readers to click and read the resources at hand. – LLS**_

* * *

 **III:** **Cherchons la femme**

While Le Papillon was busy plotting and planning again deep into the evening after the Marronaut siege of the Prism Tower, Plagg wondered if he ever had to deal with young boys. Given that the immortal Pokémon was definitely older than most – sans the Fossils or the Legendaries, who knew about _them_ – it came to the black cat watching his newest trainer mooning over a crush.

"Ladybug... her name is Ladybug..."

Plagg would have left Adrien to his affairs, except that Adrien was currently talking to a truly excellent Camembert about his Lady du Cœur, and Plagg was currently trying to feel out the boy's moods and his attachments. Plagg did not repeat mistakes if he could, and after the mess with the Rais boy, the Purrloin had more reason than most to be wary.

"Her eyes are as blue as the sky-"

"Arceus save me from teenage boys, will you quit that!" Plagg complained. "Why would you want girls, when you can have _this_?" the Purrloin continued, stealing the cheese from Adrien's loose grip.

"Well, for your record, girls smell a million times better than stinky Camembert." Adrien snapped back. "They also look a million times better, come to think of it."

"Right," Plagg yawned, taking an idle bite of cheese and smiling at the texture of the toothsome rind on his incisor. "If you like."

"Do you think the Marronaut boy and his Pokémon that we recovered from the Tower are going to be alright?" Adrien asked the Kwami.

"They'll be fine, physically. No boo-boos," Plagg smirked. "I bet you that Chespin was the immature one who decided to rampage until it won a Gym challenge. Whatever _that_ is."

"You've _never_ fought in a Gym Challenge, Plagg?" Adrien blinked in surprise.

"When you've fought in the battlefield like _moi_ ," Plagg added a touch of asperity, "you tend not to be able to fight like other Pokémon."

Adrien shot a glare at him. "Tomorrow we're going to the Lumiose Gym, then."

"Yes- wait, _what_?" Plagg sat up. "You can't be serious?"

"Well, why not?" Adrien teased. "Since you're so good with unconventional fighting."

"A large part of my move-set is immune to Electric-types," Plagg pointed out. "in case you haven't noticed."

"Yes, so we need to figure out what's the best fit for you," Adrien argued.

"Aww, spare me the Trainer-starter relations," Purrloin yawned.

Adrien glared at the Purrloin. "We're going to the Gym and that's it, Plagg. Tomorrow I have-" Abruptly, Adrien cut off in realisation before he did a double-take at the calendar. "Oh, my homework! And there's a test tomorrow! Plagg, do you know a way to summon Uxie?"

"Not a chance," Plagg snorted. "I may be magical and give you superpowers, but there's a limit to how much destruction you can make without bringing a Judgement straight down on your empty head. We're not summoning the Pokémon of wisdom from Sinnoh just so you can ace that pre-year test coming up sometime this week."

Adrien let out a groan.

* * *

" _Bonjour,_ Alya," Marinette grumbled as she slid into her seat. Chloé shot a nasty look in their direction, but since she was not a Pokémon, and her Meowth could not learn the move to begin with, Marinette judged it safe to ignore her.

"Man, what's with the both of you?" Nino commented as Alya touched Marinette's shoulder in concern. "Both of you came into class slower than Slowpokes, and that's plenty slow!"

"Test..." Adrien mumbled.

"It's not today," Alya supplied. "I heard the faculty talking about things with Monsieur Damocles on my way in. They won't start a test when new faculty members are entering in... I think."

The door opened. Mme Bustier walked in, a box of teaching materials and a tablet in hand, and stood at the platform, brushing a loose lock of her red hair away from her face.

"Class, from today onwards, we'll be having a teacher-in-training attached to our class." Mme Bustier started. "He will be teaching the history portion of our class, and assisting Mme Mendeleiev. I expect a modicum of good behaviour from all of you. Above all, do not sleep in class."

A babble broke out amongst the students, and a series of clicks indicated that some Pokémon were equally curious about Mme Bustier's last sentence. Their home-room teacher, to give her credit, let them ramble for a few seconds before she raised her voice:

"Come in."

Every student could not hold back their gasps as it came in. Black and shadow-like in statute, it had a small head, with a fog-like ghostly plume billowing from its head covering one of its bright blue eyes, much like hair. A red spiky growth around its neck indicated its collar, below which there was a squat torso fitted with skinny arms. Long black tatters hung from its shoulders, rippling like smoke or an old cloak filled with rips. Black, claw-like hands held a tablet just like Mme Bustier, but the Pokémon made it look perverse, standing there on stilt-like appendages that grew from its hourglass torso.

"This is Darkrai," Mme Bustier reluctantly admitted. "Now, as everyone knows, Pokémon and humans can co-exist in the economy. There are few jobs that cannot be done between humans and Pokémon co-operation. That includes teaching, a feat that admittedly very few Pokémon pursue. No matter the status of your teacher, you are to treat him with respect. Darkrai, some words for the class?"

« _Merci beaucoup, Madame,_ » a deep voice echoed in Kalosian, not through the ears but through the minds of every human in the classroom. « _Je suis un Darkrai, je viens de la région Sinnoh. Désormais, j'espère de bonnes relations_ _avec vous. Vous avez des questions ?_ »

"This is ridiculous!" Chloé stormed. "You cannot expect a- a _Pokémon_ to teach history! My Papa will hear of this! As the mayor of Lumiose, surely he'll fix this!"

« _Your points have been duly noted, Mademoiselle Bourgeois. Now please sit down so that we can call the roll._ »

"Erm... Monsieur?" Marinette raised her hand. "Chloé sort of has a point... the signature ability of Bad Dreams hurts sleeping Pokémon and people alike."

The lone cyan eye of their newest history teacher turned on her. A clawed hand consulted the tablet. « _Introduce yourself, please._ »

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

« _Your concern for your fellow classmates is touching, Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng. However, this is a school for a reason. As long as you do not sleep in class, there is no reason that you should suffer from Bad Dreams._ »

"History is no longer a snooze-fest," Nino muttered out loud, as Adrien's skull met the table in a decisive _thunk_.

Due to being unable to sleep in class, Marinette had to wait until the first break to talk to Alya. Unsurprisingly, the bespectacled girl was already talking to their bemused history teacher, her phone and notebook out.

"M. Darkrai, could you say what made you go into teaching?" Alya started. "How did you come here, and how did you learn Kalosian?"

« _My home in the Sinnoh region was Newmoon Island, in the north-west corner of Sinnoh,_ » Darkrai started. « _I came here by a very long way, over the sea and skies. A Kalosian professor took me in when I came here, and taught me Kalosian as I assisted her in her teaching. It was an accident of fate, I believe. I managed to take the examination for a diploma to entrance to higher education, and am now in the midst of a degree in anthro-Pokémon relations. As for teaching, I have always wanted to discuss the relationships between humans and Pokémon with fresh minds. I suppose debating history is one way to go about it as I settle into this new home._ »

"Debating history? Wow, that sounded... a lot more ordinary than I thought," Alya said. In her pouch, Bougie shivered from such close proximity to the Pitch-Black Pokémon. "You could battle so many Pokémon, travel the world... you're a legendary Pokémon of nightmares! Why would you do this kind of boring stuff?"

Darkrai's lone visible eye curved. « _If it be worth stooping for, there it lies in your eye. If not, be it his that finds it._ »

Alya gaped.

« _It's your break-time, my student._ » Darkrai floated out of the classroom.

"I think he just quoted Twelfth Night at me," Alya shakily pointed. "God, that Darkrai is... all Pokémon are supposed to have human-level intelligence, right?"

"Except for Alakazam, Alya," Marinette corrected.

"This will make a great opinion piece! 'Kalos begins to embrace anthro-Pokémon equality, starting with the school system'," Alya gushed, right before her face spasmed. "Crap! I forgot to get his opinion on Ladybug! I even made a blog on the coolest of super-heroines!"

Marinette stared as Alya pulled out her Holo Caster and showed Marinette a pink web-page titled 'Le Ladyblog'. "Your number one source of information on Ladybug! Rocks, right?!" Alya explained. "Look at how many views I got thanks to this video!"

"Erm, that's nice," Marinette swallowed. "W- Why do you trust her so much? You saw those Marronauts... what if she's not cut out to be a superheroine?"

Alya stared at her, finally leaning over. "I see, you're scared! But don't worry, I saw her with my own eyes! She even saved my life! This girl is a real superheroine, she's going to protect us all! Believe me on this!"

Looking at Alya's excitement, Marinette had her doubts about that, but could not say them aloud.

* * *

Darkrai was also present in the next class, Life Sciences, despite the fact that the lecture was mostly conducted by Mme Mendeleiev.

"Evolution is a process in which a Pokémon changes into a different species of Pokémon. This change is not merely physical, however; Pokémon of a higher evolutionary stage usually have more powerful base stats than their predecessors, learned different moves, and sometimes change their types, though usually at least one type of the previous form is preserved."

The crabby teacher dressed in a purple shirt under a white lab coat paused to take a breath. "Some have argued that Pokémon Evolution is more similar to metamorphosis, than actual evolution over time. It is still being investigated if Pokémon evolution is mostly independent phenomena from the ageing process for most species, though Baby Pokémon need to evolve to their next stage in order to breed.

"Professor Elm in Johto, and Professor Rowan of Sinnoh, are the leading experts in conventional Pokémon Evolution. According to the latter's research, over ninety-percent of all conventional Pokémon are connected to at least one other through Evolution. Professor Rowan is thus currently investigating whether Evolution is a form of maturity in Pokémon, and their implications of this process on Legendary Pokémon, which don't evolve."

« _Well, some Legendary Pokémon change forms,_ » Darkrai volunteered when the teacher started to glare at him. « _And some normal Pokémon such as Dedenne and Hawlucha don't evolve at all, and there are also Mega-Evolution Pokémon._ »

"Mega-Evolution, which is notably being studied by our own Professor Sycamore, is also considered an evolution, however temporary," Ms Mendeleiev agreed. "He theorises that the bond between Trainer and Pokémon is the key to Mega Evolution, besides the Key Stone and the Mega Stone. This proposes a single-flow model, where Pokémon follow the Trainer's wish. However, Professor Sycamore has further theorised that the converse situation may also happen; it could be the Pokémon who influences the Trainer. Pokémon studies is still a very misunderstood subject, and it is my greatest hope that some of you will grow up to become the next scientific standard bearers of Kalos. Before we do that, though, you have to get through _collège_ , so let's have a look at the syllabus..."

The words flowed into one ear and out of the other end of Adrien's head. It was class-time, Plagg was nowhere around, and-

"Hey!"

A soft thump on his head indicated that Plagg had somehow got out of his Pokéball, and the Purrloin's resultant grin made Adrien look around into Marinette's uneasy expression, followed by her holding up her notebook, where a paw-print made him groan right before Mme Mendeleiev started yelling.

* * *

"That was literally the most boring hour of my life," Alya told Marinette once the last bell had resounded and they were thankfully freed. "What do you think?"

"I think he's got a point that nobody's going to be sleeping in class," Marinette yawned lightly, stretching her shoulders as she followed Alya to their lockers to put their books. "He's a pretty good teacher."

"Papa? Papa!" Chloé's strident tones echoed, clearly speaking on her phone. "There's a Darkrai at my school, and he's teaching history!"

"Let's hope the Legendary Pokémon doesn't get pissed off by Chloé this early into the school year..." Alya sighed as she slammed her locker closed. "I need to rush off, got a Ladybug scoop. You'll be alright?"

"Sure, Alya. See you tomorrow..." Marinette mumbled.

The pitter-patter of rain caused Marinette to sigh. It covered everything in Jaune Plaza, including the aureate obelisk of the plaza, in a faint haze.

"Hi, Marinette!" Adrien was already preparing to leave, a black umbrella in hand. "I am so sorry about today, Marinette. Next time I'll keep Plagg's Pokéball in my locker."

"I- it's alright," Marinette nodded. "I totally understand. Pokémon having to be stuck in a tiny Pokéball all day can't be good for them."

Adrien fidgeted, opening his umbrella. "I... I never went to school before. Never had any friends. Before I met you in the Santalune Forest... before I had Plagg... It's all a bit new for me. I can totally understand Plagg's feelings."

Adrien smiled, the umbrella proffered in his hand under Marinette;'s surprised gaze. A roll of thunder rumbled over the skies of Lumiose City, rain falling over the shadow of the umbrella that sheltered both of them from the elements. She reached across the space between them, ever so close yet so far. The umbrella handle slid into her hand, its arms spread in a spidery protection over the pair.

It snapped closed, encapsulating Marinette's head in its grasp.

The rain fell down with a vengeance onto Adrien, the frost of January causing him to gasp. Adrien started laughing, with Marinette nervously joining in as she struggled free from it. It was a shared moment between them that passed sadly all too soon, as the noise of the surrounding Lumiose City began to intrude in that one moment of their peace.

"Well, then." Adrien started to walk out into the rain. "See you tomorrow!"

"See you motorrow, I mean tomorrow, why am I stuttering..." Marinette made a tiny wave.

Standing just out of sight of the school front, an old man smiled under his own umbrella. His Turtwig nodded in approval. "Excellent choice, Maître."

"I hope so," the old man reflected, watching two talking Pokémon start to tease their trainers. He traced his goatee. "These two, though... I have a good feeling about them. They are made for each other."

* * *

 _ **Critiquez, s'il vous plaît !**_


	5. IV: À tout pourquoi

_**À la Vie, À la Mort**_

 _ **A/n: There's a picture here too! (2): Jeanne d'Arc, former Ladybug. - LLS**_

* * *

 **IV:** **À** **tout Pourquoi**

Lumiose City's Kalosian name was Illumis, named for the fact that it was the shining jewel of the Kalos region. Documents unearthed from the palaces of the old Kings revealed that the Centrico Plaza had always held some device meant to illuminate the whole city: some structure of stacked mirrors to throw the light of a Heliolisk or Ampharos about, a burning pyre atop a platform, and so on. Ever since the siege of Lumiose City had been lifted by a girl-saint riding atop her Gogoat, the city had always sought some illumination in its darkest hour, until the Prism Tower finally came to be built, and the ancient dream of kings were fulfilled.

Chat Noir climbed the Prism Tower easily. While it was technically the Lumiose Gym, his purposes for visiting the symbol of Lumiose was more to appreciate the view than to challenge the Gym. The fact that he got to wave at people dining at the _cantine_ Le Calendrier at the Gym's opening hall helped a lot. Now, he laid back next to his Liepard, admiring the skyline of Lumiose sans Prism Tower.

"How is it that you guys can evolve and devolve each time?" He wondered.

"How should I know?" Plagg yawned, stretching himself in Liepard-form. "Like, how am I Plagg when I'm tiny, but I become 'Liepard' when I'm actually capable of fighting back without Grass Knot?"

"Sorry," Chat Noir blushed, unseen in the relative dimness of Lumiose at night. "Well, Plagg isn't a very well-known nickname, and secret identities and all that jazz. What's the worst that could happen?"

A breeze sighed past the Prism Tower, causing Chat Noir's enhanced hearing to prick as it detected something... like the rasp of cloth against the wind. Upwind-

He dodged, right before two tentacles stabbed at the spot he had previously occupied, puncturing the steel like it was nothing. "Meow-ch!"

The beating of leathery wings joined them, and Chat spotted a grinning Crobat lowering a person in a sleeveless black suit onto the tower. The full-face helmet concealed her face, only lighting up an E on its visor. "Chat Noir? We have some questions about the Marronaut today."

Under his domino mask, Chat Noir was sweating bullets. "W- Who are you?"

"Essentia. You are my latest case." Her footsteps tapped against the floor. "Not everyone is happy about today's attack. The police, City Hall, quite a few other casualties... and there is no _miraculous_ cure for everything. Crobat, Mean Look."

Chat Noir found himself backing up, contemplating Essentia's two Pokémon against Plagg alone. Essentia was bad news for him, and he was the one with the bad luck powers here. "Substitute!"

One Liepard froze, and another Liepard brandished its claws against the Crobat, who took to the skies. Chat Noir dived off of the Prism Tower, claws skittering into the metalwork under all four limbs as he started swinging and levering his way down with his extendible staff, Plagg leaping from beam to beam of the great iron-work with all fours.

"Hey, that's cheating!" Chat Noir snarled as Essentia, flying with her Crobat like a hang-glider, started to dive-bomb at him between the beams of the partially hollow Prism Tower.

"Substitute doesn't stop Mean Look!" Essentia laughed as Crobat let her go in mid-air, allowing her to flip and catch a random beam to dive at Chat Noir from above. "Who's Le Papillon? Where is he?!"

Chat Noir used his staff to hit her, but she ducked out of the way and threw a _coup de pied bas_ kick that nearly threw him off into the Lumiose night. As it were, his staff clattered to the ground, with Chat Noir himself going for a _fouetté_ kick that glanced off of Essentia's helmet, and earned him a jab to the chest.

"I'm the good guy here!" Chat Noir wheezed as he punched back, drawing a grunt from Essentia.

"Tell that to today's events! Malamar, Superpower!"

"Liepard, dodge!" Chat Noir flipped back from her, panting as he watched Plagg nearly get winged by the tentacled thing. "Superpowers? Are you a Miraculous too?"

"Miraculous?" Essentia echoed. "You're not very good at Pokémon battles, are you?"

"I have no idea what that means," Chat confessed. "Paws up, let's just talk. No fighting-"

"Too late." Essentia raised a hand in command. "Air Slash!"

Chat Noir bodily tossed himself out of the air slash, beckoning to his Pokémon. They ducked down the side of a building, running towards the lit streets of Lumiose. His green eyes sparkled as he thought of an idea, ducking by a Gogoat Shuttle stop. De-transforming in the empty space, Adrien left Plagg in his jacket and posed by the touch-screen, waiting calmly despite the hammering of his heart. Using his rarely-used Trainer card to pay the 200 was easily done; the wait was not the easiest Adrien had ever endured.

A trained Gogoat came trotting along, allowing Adrien to mount it and ride towards the west of South Boulevard, away from Essentia. The Crobat drifted down, silent and watching as the Gogoat passed. It ducked away, and soon its Trainer and companion Pokémon followed along.

Clutching on the horns of the Gogoat, Adrien sighed as they approached the east side of South Boulevard. The Mount Pokémon snorted, causing Adrien to pat its horns, causing a green ripple to pass over the horns. "Hey, this is kinda cool-"

« _Is that you, Adrien?_ »

"M- Monsieur Darkrai!" Adrien almost jumped a foot when the Darkrai addressed him by name at the last service stop of the Gogoat shuttle. "Erm... _bonsoir_?"

« _I certainly hope so, since the Gogoat was so kind as to bring you to the police station on its route._ » The Gogoat emitted a low baa, causing Darkrai to nod. « _He says that you were being chased._ »

"P- Police station?!" Adrien started. "Chased?! Not at all! H- How would a Gogoat know, anyway?"

« _Gogoat can sense the feelings of its riders through their horns, Adrien. Now, come. I will take you home._ »

"I'm good!" Adrien quickly refuted, clambering down from the Gogoat and patting its head in thanks, absolutely refusing to touch its horns. "T- Thanks, _monsieur_."

Darkrai remained silent. « _It is ten in the evening, Adrien._ »

"Yeah, I was just about to get home!" Adrien lied quickly. "Photo-shoot ran late, you know how schedules are. All ramping up for Menswear Fashion Week! Hahaha..."

Darkrai glared back. A mighty silence passed before Darkrai held its hand out. « _Let's go._ »

Plagg's snickers were hidden under Adrien's jacket as the human started walking under Darkrai's watchful eye. "What were you doing out anyway, _monsieur_?" he started asking.

« _I was dining out at the Ratatouille brasserie._ »

"For three hours?" Adrien asked.

« _Happy hour on the drinks, along with Droite on stage._ »

"Uh... By yourself?"

« _I attended it with a friend. He was called to work from a multi-car pile-up off_ _rue Méridionale._ »

Adrien made a noise of agreement. He was still planning his getaway, but the legendary Pokémon would probably out-speed him. He could transform, but the masked shadow of Lumiose was still around, tracking him down...

Actually, that was an excellent question. Why was Essentia tracking him down? If it was the Marronaut, the one who resolved it was-

"Ladybug!"

« _Adrien?_ »

"N- Nothing, _monsieur_." Adrien blinked at the gate to Kalos Route 16, the Chemin Tristesse. Known for the brooks teeming with Basculin that fed into the Rivière Vin that flowed into Lumiose City, it was also where the Agreste manor stood.

« _This is where I leave you,_ » Darkrai motioned to the wrought-iron gates. « _Bonne soirée,_ _Adrien._ »

" _Bonne soirée, monsieur!_ " Adrien replied as the Darkrai finally, blessedly, left Adrien alone at the entrance of the Agreste manor with his fears for Ladybug.

"What do I do, Plagg?"

The Purrloin hopped down from Adrien's grip once the boy had snuck back into his room, padding around sniffing for cheese. "Run or fight. But that Essentia, her Pokémon and her are experienced and outnumber us. We'll need Ladybug and her Ledian."

"No, I mean, what if they hunt Ladybug?" Adrien fretted. "She's in danger!"

* * *

The next day dawned bright and clear, and Marinette was pondering about Adrien's eye-bags as she watched Nino battle Chloé. Especially since Chloé was the opponent in question, and her Furfrou looked rather ridiculous with its orange-dyed backside and tail. Marinette knew from prior observation, though, that it hit quite hard.

"Well, GlouGlou might make a good match!" Nino offered as his Azurill bounced onto the field. "Come on, Glou! Use Bubble Beam!"

"Diamant, Sand Attack." Chloé narrowed her blue eyes as a jet of bubbles imploded against the Furfrou's coat, but the larger Pokémon swept a paw of sand into the Azurill's eyes.

"Oh, come on, pull up the charm, man!" Nino cajoled the baby Pokémon. "Charm!"

" _Les yeux de chien battu, eh?_ " Chloé commented as the Azurill gazed at the Furfrou. "Diamant, Sand Attack!"

"Oh, man!" Nino moaned as his Azurill made another sound of pain. "Not cool, man!"

"This is a Pokémon battle! Diamant, Headbutt!"

The elaborately coiffured Pokémon huffed before butting the Azurill, knocking the tiny Pokémon out.

"Azurill is unable to battle! Furfrou wins!" Sabrina, the referee for the mock match, held up Chloé's hand in triumph.

"And that just goes to show that there is no justice in this world," Alya sidled up next to Marinette.

"You did good, Glou, get a break. Alright, Chloé, you won," Nino started rifling in his pockets after recalling his Azurill. "Hold on a bit, I think I got a few Poké around."

"Oh, just keep it," Chloé sniffed, flouncing off with her Furfrou trailing behind her. "Come on, Diamant, let's get you an Oran Berry."

The gesture might have been true, but quite a few people gasped in shock.

"What?" Chloé exclaimed at the hostile response.

The bell rang then, calling the students back to class – and two students to the infirmary to get their Pokémon healed before class. A number of nasty looks were shot towards Chloé, especially from Ivan and, of all people, Adrien.

"What's going on?" Chloé echoed, still confused.

"Well, Chloé," Marinette started, "the payout from a Pokémon battle is a gesture of respect for the Pokémon's efforts in battle. It's a wish to contribute to a successful Pokémon's rise, much like how defeated Pokémon in the wild still give experience. You're disrespecting GlouGlou and your own Furfrou by not accepting Nino's efforts."

"Tch!" Chloé's tongue clicked. "Like, why do I have to accept that tiny pittance? I'm clearly richer than him, and taking half his cash is just mean."

"But not accepting his payout is even meaner, Chloé, because it means that you're deliberately disrespecting his Azurill and the training he gave it," Adrien finally spoke. "It means that you don't even recognise him as a Trainer, Chloé. That's really mean."

* * *

Vivillon of many colours fluttered about a lone figure, illuminated by soft white light that made him seem ethereal. The butterfly-shaped brooch that sparkled at the throat of his cravat seemed, itself, to be one of these colourful winged Pokémon.

"Trainers and their ilk have big hearts, especially as they start on their journey with their companions. Despite any losses, for the loser to give something to the winner is more than a token of victory, it is a sign of respect, and to not be accorded that respect... well, that is more infuriating than anything."

From his hand, a white butterfly slowly changed colour to a sinister purplish-black, taking flight to the skies under Lumiose City. Le Papillon chuckled darkly, humming a song to himself:

" _Sous le ciel d'Illumis, s'envole une chanson, hum hum...  
elle est née d'aujourd'hui dans le cœur d'un garçon..._"

Nino was fretting in the infirmary over his dropping companion. "Hey, come on, GlouGlou, it's not too bad... well, Chloé's rude and all, but don't take it to heart, we're just getting started!"

" _Rill_..."

"Yeah, I know." Nino sighed, reaching for the red-and-white Pokéball. His hand alighted upon it at the same time as the cursed butterfly that landed atop Azurill's head.

" _I am Le Papillon, and from now on, you're the Bulleur. I will help you fix your issue with your status as a Pokémon Trainer. And all you have to do in return, is help me fix_ my _issue with Ladybug and Chat Noir._ "

Nino's eyes rolled, his pupils disappearing into so much white as Tyrian purple enveloped Trainer and Pokémon. "OK, Papillon."

* * *

All was peaceful in the classroom as Darkrai called the roll.

« _Haprèle, Mylène._ »

"Present!" The plump blonde girl wearing a kerchief over her multicoloured dreadlocks raised her hand.

« _Very well. Is that everyone... well, Nino's not here._ » Darkrai stroked his collar. « _Did anyone see Nino today?_ »

"Ah, his Azurill is in the infirmary, monsieur," Adrien volunteered.

« _Then Nino will come later. Now, then, we shall begin today's topic of the Kalos region's political history-_ »

The door threw open, and a blue-skinned being with long blue ears, dressed in a primary-coloured body suit, charged into the classroom. "I am Le Bulleur!"

Now, this was the real world, and the super-villain, for all his power, was facing a legendary Pokémon; a nigh-immortal being of nightmares, whose power was only matched by other beings of nightmares. Darkrai's reaction was as expected for a Pokémon.

Screams echoed about the class as the Dark Void hit the super-villain, enveloping the man in shadow. Madame Bustier ran into the class, a soft scream escaping from her lips as the super-villain collapsed.

" _Sacré- tonnerre de Brest !_ " the teacher quickly changed her vocabulary upon seeing the students. "Darkrai? What's going on?!"

« _Madame,_ » Dark began. « _If you would move him and his Pokémon out of the class before they wake up, the gesture is much appreciated._ »

"D- Darkrai just took down a super-villain! He called himself Le Bulleur!" Alya was filming everything on her Holo Caster, her eyes alight. "But... what about the Akuma?"

"That must be Darkrai's signature move, Dark Void... he'll be asleep until he wakes up." Madame Bustier pulled a Pokéball from her belt, which rapidly expanded to fit her hand. "Cendrillon, I choose you!"

" _Gothorita_!" said her Pokémon as it appeared. " _Rita_?"

"Cendrillon, Psychic," Madame Bustier told her Pokémon. "We're getting them out of here."

The Azumarill's head slammed into the door-frame as super-villain and companion floated out, leaving a completely silent class of middle-school students with their legendary Pokémon of a teacher.

« _Take notes,_ » said the legendary Pokémon. « _Ladybug can come handle the problem on her own time._ »

There was a mad scramble for notes. "No wonder M. Damocles hired him!" Alya hissed to Marinette. "Our school's probably secured from super-villain attacks while M. Darkrai's on campus!"

Darkrai waited until everyone had some form of note-taking device – pen, paper, tablet – before he began: « _Welcome back to History. This year will be focusing mainly on the political history of Kalos, and it begins with this question: What is in a name? Today, we'll be exploring the concept of regions, which will form the framework to view the rest of the syllabus this year._ »

Most of the lecture went by standard, though worries nagged at the edge of Marinette's consciousness as she scribbled down about the pattern of geographical regions and the role of Legendary Pokémon in shaping some regions. Nino was still missing, and the sudden super-villain crashing in had left every student keyed up to pay attention to considering a region.

« _Since everyone is still likely obsessed with violence, we shall begin with the war and violence that usually characterised the formation of regions as human-controlled political entities._ » Darkrai moved towards the computer console, his claws clicking against the plastic keys of the tactile keyboard. Images flashed across the projector screen that rolled down. « _In discussing the Kalos region, no discussion can go incomplete without mentioning Jeanne of Cromlac'h, better known as_ _Son Altesse Sérénissime_ _, Jeanne d'Arc._ »

In Marinette's bag, Tikki squeaked. "Marinette..."

"Shh, Tikki," Marinette fidgeted in her seat.

"What about the super-villain?"

"He's asleep!"

"Yes, but we should sneak out and find the Akuma," Tikki excused herself.

« _Born in Dolrémy, Cromlac'h, Jeanne apparently heard voices telling her to begin gathering an army against an invasion in the XIII Century. Exactly who the other parties were is unclear at the present, but archaeological evidence places the invaders coming all the way from the Sevii Islands..._

"Why? It's not like I'm missing-" Marinette stopped, looking at a stylised stained-glass rendering of the princess astride a Gogoat, her banner red and dotted with black. A Ledian flew at her side.

Beside the Gogoat, was a rider sitting on a Drapion, a Liepard poised to leap from the Ogre Scorpion Pokémon's back at the behest of a black-gloved hand. The rest of the stained-glass lay outside of the picture, but no Kalosian child could miss the inspiration for _La Barbe bleue_.

"...Ladybug?" Alya was paying much more attention, noting the picture of the stained-glass window. "Wow, black dots on red must be a legacy! This is _so_ going on the blog!"

Tikki whimpered.

« _Starting on her journey across and around Kalos, Jeanne lifted the Siege of Lumiose and took the field against the Legendary Pokémon, Yveltal. She crowned the King of Kalos, and arguably united the city-states of Kalos together, accompanied with her marshals and Pokémon companions. Sadly, she would be caught by the enemy, tried in a fixed trial, and burned at the stake at her very birthplace, perishing with her loyal Sylveon in a painful conflagration._ »

Oblivious to Marinette's sad realisation, or Tikki's sorrow, Darkrai continued talking as the screen behind him changed to the same gold-haired woman burning in flames cast by a Hydreigon, the ribbon-riddled silhouette of a Sylveon apparent amidst the red and orange.

« _The current Route numbering system of Kalos is a reflection of her path, walking from Vaniville to Détourner Way and back to the Île-de-l'arc, where stands the church of Notre Dame, the current headquarters of the Kalos League. This is the basis that Kiloude City is considered by some historians not to be part of the classical Kalos state, assuming that such an institution existed..._ »

* * *

The disquiet followed Marinette, even as she took to the roofs of Lumiose City, escaping the Collège and moving towards the nearest Pokémon Centre.

"Tikki..." Marinette started. "Jeanne was also Ladybug, right?"

The Ledian flinched. "...yes."

"You were there, weren't you?" Marinette continued, almost accusing. "When Jeanne d'Arc was executed."

"I was not. Margaux came in time to destroy the Hydreigon, but... it was so hot, and Jehanne somehow managed to toss the Miraculous to me." Tikki made a noise of frustration, hovering by Marinette's side as the pair headed towards the direction of the North Boulevard Pokémon Centre where, according to the Ladyblog, the super-villain from their school was being held under sedation.

"Who's Margaux?"

"Our leader, the Sylveon." Tikki shrugged. "She ordered me to take the Miraculous away. I... I panicked, I didn't know what to do and I was choking and- and then Plagg came with the Chat Noir of that time."

"Who's Plagg?"

"Chat Noir's Kwami." Tikki skipped over an antenna and continued flying as Ladybug swung across Lumiose City. "The Liepard."

"The Prankster Liepard, I remember." Ladybug's lips thinned as she skidded to a halt in front of the Pokémon Centre, made distinct by not only its red-painted roof, but the squad of special-forces Blaziken alighted at various points outside of the Pokémon Centre.

Ladybug landed neatly before the wide doors of the Pokémon Centre, rushing in towards the reception counter.

"Hello, and welcome to the Pokémon Centre!" The Nurse Joy gave a bright smile. "Would you like to rest your Pokémon?"

"No, Nurse Joy, I need to find the super-villain that was sedated and brought here."

"Ah, I would think that a superheroine would need medical aid too," Nurse Joy consulted her desktop monitor. "He's right inside, Ladybug, room 105."

" _Merci_!" Ladybug ran in, ducking past a janitor's trolley. She was narrowly hit by a gurney containing a groaning Ursaring, whom several Wigglytuff were pushing towards the forbidding double doors of what looked like an operating theatre. The white lighting and the ammonia smell of cleaners gave everything an air of normality.

Marinette felt like a doctor on call. As she spotted a Lucario and a Skarmory dressed in medical scrubs run through the double doors after the Ursaring, she could sympathise with the Skarmory's squawk at being cut off by her dashing through. "Sorry!"

Room 105 loomed, and she walked through to find a reinforced bed, the super-villain belted down onto the bed, and a Breloom poised to fling a Spore at him. "I'm here!"

"I am so glad that you have made it at last, Ladybug." A helmeted head turned from the only plastic chair in the room, next to the hospital bed with the sleeping bloated body. A golden E shone on its visor.

Ladybug took a step back. Behind her, the door slammed shut.

"Who are you?"

"I am Essentia," said the helmeted figure. "The Commissioner of Lumiose City has hired me to investigate this problem. His words were, specifically, to investigate Ladybug and Chat Noir, to derive information that would lead to a long-term solution to the problem."

Ladybug glanced from the giant Azumarill, back to Essentia. "You seem to have things well in control."

"Only until Papillon makes something that can't sleep," was Essentia's measured response. "Come. Tell me. Can you figure out where is his Akuma?"

Ladybug warily approached the bed. Despite the bed standing between Essentia and herself, everything told her that here was someone to be wary of, superhero or not. She looked down at the Azumarill, gasping softly. "Oh, Nino... what has Papillon done to you?"

"You know him," Essentia observed.

Marinette frowned, looking down at her hands. "I know that this must stop. Yet, handing over the Miraculouses are not the answer."

"Of course not. If one gives an enemy power over oneself, that would only disadvantage us." Essentia agreed. "Tell me, how close are you to finding Papillon?"

"N- Not at all," Ladybug admitted. "Chat Noir and I don't know where or how to find Papillon. We never- I mean... well..." In the face of a forbidding entity like Essentia, Marinette found herself unable to muster any self-confidence or argument.

"I met Chat Noir last night at the Centrico Plaza," Essentia commented. "That is to say, I attacked him. In the process, I discovered that Chat Noir has minimal experience with Pokémon battles."

Ladybug tried to keep a straight face, where internally Marinette winced. Her fingers played over the Azumarill's stomach, still trying to find anything that looked covered in blackness or Akumatised. "You attacked Chat Noir?!"

"Your kitty cat escaped with minimal injury, don't worry." Essentia held up one hand. "Now then, explain; what are the Miraculouses, Le Papillon, and the Akuma."

Th closed room, meant to protect everyone from the Azumarill supervillain, seemed at the moment a prison for Ladybug. The feeling persisted even as she discovered and broke the black Pokéball. The Azumarill dissipated, revealing Nino's sleeping visage and body as purple shadows melted off the Azumarill façade, and with it a sleeping baby Azurill snored atop Nino's chest. A dark black butterfly fluttered out from the broken remnants.

Marinette flinched as a purple shadow tackled it down, hurtling from the shadows of the eaves to kill the tiny innocent insect whose only crime was to be Papillon's carrier. A whisper of wings indicated that the Crobat above had pinned it, trapping the dark butterfly in a large glass jar that sealed itself with a click.

Essentia still sat there, insouciant as the escaped Akuma flapped its wings about. "You still haven't answered the question."

"Am I under arrest?" Ladybug demanded. "I need to purify the Akuma."

"Why?"

"Because it's my job," Ladybug sighed. "Surely you know the concept."

"And who said that it was your job?"

"Tikki, my-" Ladybug's teeth clacked as she stopped. "Why do you need to know? Why are you asking these kinds of questions?"

"Because it is my job," Essentia simply replied.

Ladybug's hand slowly reached for her weapon. "And... what if I don't want to answer?"

Essentia's mask seemed all the more sinister as her fingers snapped together. "Malamar. Superpower."

* * *

 _ **Critiquez, s'il vous plaît !**_


	6. V: Il y a parce que

_**À la Vie, À la Mort**_

* * *

 **V:** **Il y a parce que**

It seemed like destiny, that Chat Noir would alight on the singing Jagged Stone billboard right as part of the North Boulevard Pokémon Centre would explode. It was even more of a coincidence that the sound loop started on the rock star's famous single: 'Le Meilleur Dresseur'.

 _Un jour je serai le meilleur dresseur,  
Je me battrai sans répit.  
Je ferai tout pour être vainqueur,  
Et gagner les défis !_

That long guitar riff punctuated Ladybug crashing into the building, sliding down the façade until she landed on a balcony.

"My lady!" Chat Noir dived, his baton twirling as the Crobat from last night shot across the North Boulevard, its fangs bared and glowing purple. The purple splashed out against Chat Noir's staff, the fang just barely sinking into his hand before Chat Noir's arm thrust sent the Crobat reeling into the sky as Chat Noir landed next to the red-clad prone figure. "My lady, I'm so sorry, I should've warned you! Liepard, Thunder Wave!"

"No, Chat, I have Pokémon too," Ladybug climbed back to her feet, shaking her head. "Ledian, Reflect!"

"Crobat, Haze!" Essentia was free-running across the North Boulevard, her Malamar easily carrying her across the cars and bicycles.

On command, the Crobat spewed from its mouth a black haze that swallowed the balcony, the Ledian's shield, and the two superheroes. Tikki cried in complaint, an orb forming in her hands. She tossed it, hitting the Crobat and causing its body to sparkle.

"Alright, Crobat, Mean Look to trap them here!" Essentia called as she climbed up to the balcony, but blinked as Crobat flailed, still casting black haze. "Oh, Encore. Malamar, Psycho Cut!"

The balcony trembled, its supports sliced through with psychic energy and causing a cry from Chat Noir as the support he was holding onto suddenly became just a hunk of metal. Abovehead, the Ledian hissed, already diving down to buzz at the Malamar, causing the monstrous Pokémon to flinch right as the refrain echoed down:

 _Pokémon! Attrapez-les tous!  
(C'est notre histoire)  
Pokémon!  
Ensemble pour la victoire !  
Pokémon!  
Yeah, rien ne nous arrêtera,  
Notre amitié triomphera!_

 _Pokémon !  
Attrapez -les tous !  
(Même à notre âge)  
Pokémon!  
Un voyage d'apprentissage !  
Ça demande du courage!  
Pokémon...!  
Pokémon! Attrapez-les tous!  
Attrapez-les tous! Attrapez-les tous...!_

"Bear with it, Malamar!" Essentia called. "Use Slash!"

"Of course... Ledian, Bug Buzz!" Ladybug ordered, her Pokémon immediately complying by opening her mouth. A loud buzz with red waves shot forth, striking the Malamar in the face and causing it to moan in agony.

"How does that work?!" Chat Noir complained.

"Malamar is a Dark/Psychic dual-type, it's doubly weak to Bug-type moves!" Ladybug snapped back. "Crobat!"

"Huh, yeah- oh. Liepard, Thunder Wave!" Chat Noir quickly ordered, causing the Crobat to screech as it was hit with a paralysing wave. The Malamar lashed out, hitting Tikki into his companion, and both flying Pokémon collided and fell to the floor of the balcony as Essentia rushed forward, tripping Ladybug with her feet.

 _Rien ni personne sur mon chemin  
Ne pourra me briser.  
Car pour accomplir mon destin,  
Je suis déterminé... !_

 _Quand il faudra passer à l'action,  
Mes amis seront là !  
Et tous ensemble nous gagnerons,  
Le dernier des combats!_

"Cat got your tongue!" Chat Noir growled as he literally clashed heads, and touched his sore forehead before Essentia was already at his throat, tangling with Ladybug's bandalore from behind and Chat Noir from in front. Yet, somehow Essentia managed to dodge and keep up with the duo's superhuman reflexes, easily using the shaking balcony to brain Ladybug and tie Chat Noir's belt before she kicked out and grabbed her Crobat, who was hovering in mid-air.

"Crobat!" Essentia commanded. "Aerial Ace!"

Freed from the Encore, Crobat's wings sparkled as Essentia pivoted her Pokémon about with her own body, loosing the attack at Tikki. The wings cut true, throwing the Bug Pokémon to crash into the building façade.

"Ti- Ledian!" Ladybug dived, barely catching her Pokémon's left foot with the tips of her fingers.

Her action loosened the bandalore. It allowed Essentia to yank it, and Ladybug, to slam into Chat Noir and skitter the group into Plagg, sending all of them crashing into the stone-paved boulevard. A heartbeat later, Essentia crashed down, landing on her feet with her two companions, both which looked fine, if slightly battered.

"We don't have to do this, Ladybug. Chat Noir. I am just looking for-" Essentia stopped talking as she saw the Substitute fade. "-answers."

She depressed a button immediately. "Essentia to base. The insects have escaped the web- oh, Lapis was there? She's keeping watch, then... it can't be helped. Don't worry. I still have the Akuma with me. They'll have to find me to purify it..."

* * *

"We'll have to find her to purify it." Ladybug slumped next to the pile made by Chat Noir's Liepard and her Ledian. "Essentia. The Akuma is still with her."

The pair of superheroes had fled to Rouge Plaza, skipping along rue Belle de Nuit, passing the Mamoswine Photo Shoot and the Gogoat Shuttle North Boulevard West stop. The escape then involved crossing into the Rive Sud part of Lumiose City by ducking down Autumnal Avenue, and cutting across Magenta Plaza to duck into an abandoned café along Magenta Plaza, where Chat Noir threw himself atop the dusty counter.

Neither superhero looked at the entrance to Lysandre Labs. Nor did they look at the signboard for Lysandre's Café by the far wall behind the counter. Someone had had the bright idea to plaster posters for the new Prismillon eye-shadow from Tempera Illumis, based on the Vivillon's eighteen patterns. _Jewel tones made from Light Clay,_ said the posters. _Natural ingredients for a beautiful palette_.

"My lady, in case you haven't noticed, we just _ran_ from Essentia." Chat Noir glared around the dusty furniture. "How are we going to do that?"

"The thing is, we don't know enough about Essentia." Ladybug stressed. "And we don't know who sent her after us. Chat, do you know her?"

"Not until last night." Chat Noir winced. "I was going to warn you, but... couldn't contact you..."

"Yes, I get it, thank you Chat." Ladybug pondered. "She said that the Commissioner hired her to look into us. But why?"

"Some cops don't like us?" Chat Noir suggested.

Both of them immediately fell silent at the thought. Making an enemy of the Kalosian Surêté was not exactly a promising start to their career of illegal law-enforcement, magical or not.

"How did Daisy and Calem do it?" Ladybug spoke aloud to herself, referring to the latest and youngest recipients of the Honour of Kalos. "I don't think they had masked vigilantes coming after them."

"Well, the former Champion of the Kalos League must be really competent at battling." Chat Noir glossed over the fact that he was a novice with adroit practice. "But you were really good, my lady! You figured out that Bug Buzz to hit that Malamar back!"

"There is always a Pokémon battle around the Centrico Plaza," Ladybug explained. "Since the place is classed as part of the Lumiose Gym, people tend to practice there before their Gym battles. You can learn a lot just by observation... but let's get back to the problem that Essentia has an Akuma, an Akuma that can multiply itself! What if it's multiplying now? Then poor Nino will..."

"Nino?" Chat Noir echoed, his expression falling.

"A student at the Collège Françoise Dupont. He's the second victim that the Darkrai teacher took down." Ladybug explained. "His form is an Azumarill."

"Azumarill. The... water rabbit Pokémon? Evolved from Marill?" Chat Noir almost giggled. "The tiny thing?"

"It's not funny when you take into account Azumarill's Huge Power ability, which practically doubles its Attack power and makes it hit harder than the Diggersby at construction sites," Ladybug explained. "Combine that with type resistances to both Dark- and Bug-type attacks, possible recovery in Aqua Ring, hard-hitting moves like Double-Edge and Superpower, and possibly even fast moves like Aqua Jet. The result is a Pokémon that would probably finish us before we could even figure it out."

"My lady is awesomely intelligent," Chat Noir said once he had mulled over her explanation. "So... we need to deal with him, preferably before the Akuma multiplies and..."

"We have to purify the Akuma." Ladybug listed out. "And to do that, we have to track it down. It's with Essentia, who just managed to chase us away with her two Pokémon, despite being outnumbered four to three. She's probably not going to politely hand it over, given how we just escaped her under the noses of the police Blaziken. So we have to track her down and steal it... without her knowing about it. The first step, Chat, would be to find her."

Ladybug hesitated here. "Essentia is looking for one of us, presumably to arrest. And... I think I'm the one who has to be arrested."

"What? No! My lady, I can be the arrested one!" Chat protested.

"No, Chat, you have enhanced senses: smell, sight, all of that, to track Essentia." Ladybug argued. "Also, your Cataclysm is needed to break me out, if... things go wrong."

"But, my lady," Chat Noir protested, "you are deliberately throwing yourself into danger like this. Couldn't we find another way to track Essentia?"

"Like what?" Ladybug argued.

"Like, how did she know that we were going to the North Boulevard Pokémon Centre?"

"The ambulance- I mean, it was on the news." Ladybug, and by extension Marinette, stopped talking. "It was on the _news_. That was why Essentia had the time to set her Pokémon behind me-"

Chat growled at the mention of the ambush. "That double-crossing-"

"-and that's why she was waiting for me." Ladybug finished. "We don't know where she is, but neither does she know where we are. So, we can just... pull our own ambush."

* * *

The Gourgeist hovering above the signboard of Lysandre Café, the face of Lysandre Labs, was still teetering in mid-air, the orange locks of its prehensile hair hovering about.

"Yeah, I know," the black-haired girl next to it tucked a loose lock behind her left ear, revealing its pointed helix. Her grey eyes seemed flat, like stone chips embedded into her elfin features as she tapped her earpiece.

"Lapis to Essentia. I'm not at base, but I managed to find your insects. They're planning to ambush you after using the Ladyblog to lure you to a place of their choice. I know, it's dumb. Of course it's dumb, walking into the trap. It's the only way to figure out of they're Pokémorphs, right? If they're normal Pokémorphs, it's all well and good except for two kids with a bad guy after them. If it's something _else_ , like what the Doctor says, we can probably get some questions. Either way, we're still getting paid, so let's do it."

A single tap ended the call. "Citrouille."

She leapt off of the roof, followed by the Gourgeist. The pair disappeared into thin air, shadows racing across the Magenta Plaza and out into the City of Eternal Light.

* * *

Ladybug's voice message, an outright challenge to Essentia set at the Centrico Plaza and sent to Alya's care from a terminal at the Bibliothèque d'Illumis, made it to the Ladyblog within ten minutes. It left Ladybug and Chat Noir, infamous vigilantes of Lumiose City, hanging around the little-populated alcoves of the lower floors with nothing to do but plan.

"The first thing we need to do is... well, get more experience." Chat Noir put his face in his hands.

" _Don't_ say it," Ladybug warned him.

"What was I thinking-?"

"Anyone would panic if they're plummeting down with no real possibility of landing on their paws, Chat," Ladybug sighed. "At least you managed by yourself. I must have totally failed."

"They hit you with a Superpower from behind!" Chat Noir, to Ladybug's surprise, took more umbrage with this than anything else. "You were thrown across the North Boulevard! They could have killed you!"

"But that was because I let my guard down," Ladybug admitted. "Now I have you to watch my back, Chat."

"...well," Chat Noir looked away, whistling to hide the blush, "that's nice."

They separated to de-transform, and give their Kwami some time for rest and refuelling. For Marinette, this involved giving Tikki a bag of cookies bought from the library's attached café, Café Le Tas, and sitting by the counter, alone and fretting. For Adrien, it involved giving Plagg a wheel of Camembert and then sighing at his table, his back turned to Marinette.

At the counter, the male barista blinked at their grey-eyed newbie laughing. "What's so funny?"

The newbie pointed towards two tables; the girl with a Ledyba, and the boy with a Purrloin. "It sure looks like they just missed each other, Don."

"Well, yeah..." the barista blinked slowly. "Hey, what's the next order?"

But the newbie was gone. Shrugging, the barista went to check the list of orders as the door swung in, causing the barista to drop his glass at the sight of the woman at the door.

"D- Dr du Bois!"

"Will you speak louder, Donar, I don't think the rest of Lumiose City heard you," the woman in the black trench coat that Marinette's eye was immediately drawn to remarked, drawing admiring looks and, to the younger patrons of the library café, not a small amount of fear. " _Un thé de Baie Selro, quatre cafés filtrés, deux thés glacés, une noisette, et_ _une dizaine de brioches_ _au jambon. Tout à emporter._ "

"Hold on, I'm still taking orders..." Donar, the barista, complained, recounting the orders: "One Roseli Berry tea, four Unovans, two iced teas, one Kalosian-style macchiato, and a dozen ham brioches... all to go."

Around Marinette's place, two punk-rocker types immediately fled, muttering about the demon lecturer. University life sounded intense, to Marinette.

"Yes. Hopefully, the order would turn out a lot better than this week's essay." The icon of Lumiose style replied. "Olive's work was badly researched, Donar."

"Yes, well, how else was I supposed to find a pair of Mysterious Sisters in news media?" Donar complained as he bustled about behind the counter, deftly dropping freshly-cut Roseli Berries with leaves in a paper cup and hot water to steep, before tossing a tray of ham brioches into the oven to warm. "The module Dimensions of Human-Pokémon Relations in Kalos is a nightmare because of you, and Darkrai did better than me?!"

"He researched his work, and it's sad that a Legendary Pokémon understands the academic research process better than you," Marguerite retorted, drawing Marinette's and Adrien's attention. "Have you seen his thesis proposal? Much more properly formatted."

"Yes, I have." Donar started dispensing the hot water for the four coffees and one with a dash of hot milk. "Why are you buying coffee for Professor Sycamore?"

"Well, the Professor's taking an interest into the Ladybug and Chat Noir situation with his theory, so that means that I'm holding down the fort for the moment." She leant against the counter, green eyes scanning the café. "He thinks that they're a form of Mega Evolution where the Pokémon affects the human, so he claims. The problem is, when a famous professor makes such a claim, it makes law enforcement nervous enough to establish that no, normal Pokémon cannot turn children into monsters."

"Hmm... or they could be Pokémorphs," Donar commented lowly, now juggling between the hot tray of ham brioches and packing them into a box, which went into a bag.

"When that happens, Rowan or Juniper or Dr Fennel can take the case." came the explanation. "Until then, Commissioner is approaching the case as if the perpetrator is a Mega Evolution user. He's also going about it the wrong way, if today's showdown at the North Pokémon Centre was any indication."

"Well, there's going to be a show at the Centrico Plaza tonight, certainly." Donar tapped one plastic cover on the array of takeaway cups. "Who do you think would win?"

"That would depend on the format of battle." Marguerite pondered, fingering the coat that Marinette was partly drooling over, since it was the Lumiose Boutique Couture's famous trench-coat dress. "Each of them would use one Pokémon. Considering that they know about Crobat and Malamar, then their best chance is really a Double Battle. Along with battle items, but don't quote me on that."

"Uh huh... alright, your order is fifteen hundred Poké, paid by CarteChevroom..." Donar typed on the touch-screen as Marguerite tapped a card on the sensor pad. " _Au revoir, et bonne journée_!"

Marguerite left with her order, having given the superheroes of Lumiose City some much-needed battle advice.

After a moment, Marinette walked out, Tikki fluttering alongside her as she sidled into the nearest Paillette et Maquillage, marching straight for the Tempera Illumis section. Smiling, she turned the small tub of Métropole Cramoisi around and checked its ingredients, including the very telling description: _50 % Lumargile. Pour les humains et les Pokémon._

"Tikki~" sang Marinette.

"M- Marinette...?" Tikki blinked at the tub. "How would Modern Crimson eye-shadow help you win?"

"Since I can't go all the way to Geosenge Town to search for Light Clay, you'll have to use this," Marinette explained after ringing up her purchase without flinching at the 400 price tag. "Half of it is Light Clay, which is a League-approved held item which enhances the time limit for screens, like Reflect and Light Screen. You'll be wearing it, which qualifies as holding it..."

"Oh, that's actually pretty smart." Tikki considered. "I understand."

"The format, on the other hand, is more than just Pokémon battles." Marinette pondered as she walked a back-alley around the Magenta Plaza banlieue. "We'll need to tell Chat Noir."

* * *

At the appointed sunset, Prism Tower was a blaze of light against the Lumiose skyline, a strike against the wing of a Volcarona. Metal cordons, patrolled with the overwhelming population of police Pokémon, had been set up around the circular Centrico Plaza. There were carts selling food, and some enterprising street-hawker had bribed the Gym Leader to use the Lumiose Gym's Electric-types to power the spotlights and even hold picket signs. No matter whether spectators turned up in red with black polka-dots, purple and black, or wearing a giant E, all were welcome; the battle itself had yet to begin, after all.

Blaziken Mask and the Defenders of Kalos were nowhere to be sighted, nor would they be; it had already been established that Essentia, and now Ladybug and Chat Noir, lay outside of their social circles.

"Open your eyes wide, because we're live in Lumiose City!" Alya reported excitedly through her smart-camera, sauntering up to Clemont. "Hi everyone! Here's Alya on a mission for the one and only Ladyblog! And look, Ladybug and Chat Noir are here to face the vigilante Essentia in a Pokémon battle! So, for this battle, the presiding referee will be our Lumiose City's own Gym Leader, Clemont. Hi Clemont, I'm Alya Césaire, with the one and only Ladyblog."

"Hi Alya." The Gym Leader seemed more frazzled, the robotic arms emerging from his backpack flailing, carrying satellite dishes and other paraphernalia of electrical work. "Since this battle is taking place on the oversight of the Lumiose Gym, I, Clemont Citron, Gym Leader of Lumiose City Gym, will serve as referee here."

"That's interesting. Why do you think Ladybug and Chat Noir chose this spot for her battle against Essentia?"

The slightly-built blond man in overalls adjusted his spectacles. "The future is now, thanks to science! Obviously, the Prism Tower provides illumination for the whole of Lumiose City as its most visible landmark. Since Essentia is usually known to operate around the Rive Nord, Ladybug and Chat Noir would most probably have come to blows with her, if they operate at night at all. Essentia is... not as noticeable as the duo, though I think we can agree that she was very noticeable during the showdown at the North Pokémon Centre."

A red streak crossed the sky, and Lumiose City's newest heroine landed on the opposite side of the battlefield Essentia was on. This happened as a black streak landed on all paws next to her.

" _Purr_ -fect ten, my lady," Chat Noir teased, his Liepard flicking its tail from side to side next to him.

"Nice shades," Ladybug commented, pointing to the glasses donned by Chat Noir's Liepard. "Must have cost you a pretty Poké, _chaton_."

"Nothing in- _fur-_ ior to my Lady- did you just call me _Chaton_?" Chat Noir did a double take.

Ladybug flushed at her slip. "Uh..."

She was saved as Essentia stepped forward. Her Crobat hovered next to the leering Malamar, intimidating in the harsh glare of the light from the Prism Tower, silhouetted over the Lumiose skyline and their confrontation.

"She looks scarier at night," Ladybug commented, almost to herself. "We haven't done anything wrong," she spoke louder, enough to be caught by the Lumiose paparazzi machine and Alya's camera. "We're here to clear up any misunderstandings that might have occurred between ourselves, Essentia."

"Were it simply a private misunderstanding, then all of Lumiose City would not have to witness us here, Ladybug," Essentia's flat, computerised voice only confirmed the technology used to hide her natural voice.

"Private? It became a public matter when you attacked me in the Pokémon Centre!" Ladybug retorted. "We were in the same room as the Akuma victim!"

"Yes. Your victim, was it not?"

"No, he was _Papillon's_ victim!" Chat Noir intervened, his words curiously devoid of puns. "Ladybug is only purifying the Akuma that Papillon sent on the Azurill! She is on the side of the good!"

"Chat, _we_ are on the side of the good," Ladybug corrected.

"I only lend my aid where I can, my Lady."

"The _good_ would not have torn up half of Lumiose!" Essentia was yelling.

"We fixed it!" Chat shot back, his head swivelling so fast from kitty-cat to hunter of the night.

"And that is supposed to change the fact that Lumiose City was threatened by this unknown Papillon, whom you profess have no idea about, who is after you and all you touch?!" Essentia's argument rendered most spectators silent. "That the two of you cannot even beat _me,_ would hope to save this city?! A bug I can squish and a mangy alley-cat, are the only hopes for Lumiose City's defence against this Papillon? Why has it repeated itself, first with the Chespin, and now the Azurill? Why have you not ended this threat already?! Do you not have the power of destroying all that you touch, Chat Noir?! If you will not use your power against the Papillon, whom you seem so familiar with, why are you even here?!"

"Enough!" Ladybug stepped in. "Essentia... in this fight against the Akuma, against those who judge us... he is my partner." Ladybug drew another breath as Chat looked at her in surprise. "Are we not here together, _chaton_? Will we not do this together?"

Looking at her blue eyes, outlined in red and glittering in the harsh white of the Prism Tower's LEDs, Chat Noir swallowed. " _Entre eux, c'est à la vie, à la mort._ "

 _Between us, it's until death do us part._

"Let's do this." Ladybug's hand spread in wordless command.

"The cat's out of the bag!" Chat Noir laughed as his Liepard took the field with Ladybug's Ledian. "Ah, Essentia, we'll both take you on! Because we only have one Pokémon per person..."

"..." Wordlessly, Essentia's head swivelled to the referee.

"Ah, yes!" Clemont quickly adjusted his glasses. "I will be the referee of Essentia v. Ladybug and Chat Noir. The format of this battle is Double Battle. Each side may use two Pokémon. The battle will stop when either side is unable to continue battle."

"I'll get it all on film!" Alya's cry echoed as she quickly ran to find a good place to stand.

"Those conditions are fine, Gym Leader Clemont," Ladybug nodded.

"Purr-fect!"

"Mmm."

"Then," Clemont raised his hands, "begin!"

Ladybug and Chat Noir may not be familiar with battling, or have the contents of the PokéDex handy, or have saved Kalos beforehand. Essentia, for all her lack of reputation amongst most of Lumiose City's daytime population, was also an experienced Trainer with Pokémon that had seen action in the Team Flare fight – albeit, they were fighting on the Flare side.

Nevertheless, the rule of the battlefield was speed; that, and priority brackets allowing certain Pokémon to move with a 'second speed' like twisting reality itself to surprise. It was thus without much surprise or fanfare that Chat Noir's Liepard managed to clinch the first move.

"Thunder Wave!"

Crobat was paralysed before it could rush the Ledian, who immediately set up a Reflect to defend against Malamar's Slash. The purple goop dripped from Crobat's fangs, causing the ground to sizzle – Poison Fang had been the move of choice to deal with Ledian.

"The Reflect is- stronger," Essentia realised. "Malamar, Superpower on the Liepard! Crobat, use Aerial Ace!"

"Ledian," Ladybug quickly ordered, "Encore that Malamar!"

The Ledian clapped its hands, forcing a sound wave of wash over the Malamar. Instead of using its full power, it set out to Slash Chat Noir's Liepard instead.

"Liepard, Substitute!" Chat Noir commanded. "Swagger that Crobat!"

Liepard's grin lasted all the way until it swayed in front of the Poison/Flying-type Pokémon, causing it to steam in fury and bob up and down in confusion. Malamar's cry of pain did not draw any reaction as Bug Buzz echoed.

"Now, Foul Play!" Chat Noir crowed in victory as Liepard's tail caught on the Crobat's outstretched wings, causing the Crobat to slam into the ground with its centripetal force and added bodyweight. The leathery wings twitched, and remained still.

"Crobat is unable to battle!" Clemont quickly announced. It was drawn back to a Pokéball by Essentia, who patted its head first before it was swallowed by red light. The gesture, while normal, caused a pang of understanding with Marinette.

"Crobat is down!" Alya's squeal was shared by many spectators. "Now it's Malamar left! Go Team Ladybug!"

"Why- won't- you- go- down!" Essentia hissed as Malamar's encored Slash attacks crashed against the Reflect. "Reflect should have collapsed already!"

"Light Clay extends the duration that screens like Reflect and Light Screen operate," Ladybug replied, holding up a half-empty tub of Tempera Prismillon Métropole Cramoisi. "By League definition, any substance that contains fifty percent or more Light Clay is qualified as an in-battle held item!"

The next day, Tempera d'Illumis would contact the Ladyblog, and offer their sponsorship to Alya as long as she ran adverts with Ladybug's endorsement of the Prismillon _fard à paupières_. By the end of the year, the number one advertisement would not be the Gabriel _marque_ , but the Motif Pokéball Fantaisie – red and white wings superimposed with black spots and cat's eye-green.

"Now, Ledian," Ladybug continued, Bug Buzz one more time!"

"Liepard, it's time to scratch back!" Chat Noir joined in. "Foul Play!"

Impressively, Malamar survived both hits. Everyone held its breath as it wobbled on its stubby legs, tentacles waving. It groaned, its boneless body bending much like a tree against the storm, but did not fall as it planted itself squarely, ready to face two Pokémon.

"He's not falling..." Chat Noir hissed. "What a monster..."

"Malamar..." Essentia echoed. "You're holding on... for me?"

The Malamar turned its head to nod at Essentia. Its body glowed with a red aura as it turned back, charging up as it prepared to launch itself bodily. It crashed into the Liepard and slamming it clear of the battlefield, narrowly missing Clemont.

"P- Liepard!" Chat Noir ran towards the fallen Pokémon, lifting it to show the whirls of its eyes. "You fainted?!"

"Liepard is unable to battle! What incredible trust between Pokémon and Trainer!" Clemont shouted over the horrified gasps and Chat Noir running to his partner Pokémon's side. "Even if it's a Dark-type, that takes serious love of a Pokémon for its Trainer!"

"Ma- Ladybug..." Tikki whimpered. "That Malamar's going to be tough."

"We have to do this, Tikki!" Ladybug shouted, despite her falling confidence. "Don't waste what Chat Noir's Liepard left for you! Trust in his work! Now, Bug Buzz!"

"Malamar, dodge!" Essentia ordered. "Retaliate with Night Slash!"

The screen of light barely held, already falling apart as tentacles that glowed with black auras cut through the noise and towards Tikki, who squealed and narrowly got hit on her delicate exoskeleton.

"Come on!" Alya yelled with the crowd, lost in

"I'm counting on you! Get close and use Bug Buzz!"

Tikki's wings beat furiously, bouncing her off the Malamar's torso before she let loose a wild screech, a noise that set off every microphone, vibrating through the Malamar's body as it was tossed back by the insect sonic-boom. It wobbled against the sound, groaning even as the Bug Buzz stopped.

Cradling his Liepard as he sprayed medicine helpfully offered by an on-site paramedic, Chat Noir grimly watched the showdown. "We won on the _tail_ -ent... but our bond is in- _fur_ -rior here..."

" _Zu, zu!_ "

Chat looked up. An Azurill watched the proceedings at the back of the crowd. Beside it, a Chespin started bawling, drawing Chat Noir's attention to them and their Trainers: two boys, framed on either side by Officer Jennys.

"Nino!" Adrien shouted.

"Yo, man...!" Nino wiped away a tear under his glasses as he smiled at Chat. "This is Hérisson. We're just... bonding, you know? Our Pokémon followed us."

"Marronaut. The Chesnaught." Chat realised.

"And the Bulleur. Azumarill." Nino sniffed. "Please don't take my GlouGlou away."

"He is as much a victim of Papillon as you are." Chat Noir choked. "Pokémon are victims of Papillon too!"

At the centre of the crowd, a hubbub was already cheering as the Malamar slowly fell. Tentacles gently waving, an unknown expression crossed over its dark face as a cloud of dust rose over its prone form.

"M- M- Malamar is unable to battle." Clemont announced. "Ledian wins! Thus, Ladybug and Chat Noir wins this Double Battle!"

"You did well, Malamar..." Essentia murmured, patting the fallen Pokémon on the head. "You did much better than anyone could have expected."

"You have a very strong bond with your Pokémon, Essentia." Ladybug walked over, holding her Ledian in her arms. "I admire that. Your Malamar, especially, loves you so much, that it would not fall to its weakness. That it would cry for not being able to defend for you. We thank you for this battle."

"..." Slowly, Essentia reached for her belt, fiddling with what Ladybug recognised as a money clip as she pulled three notes from it. "The payout."

"On behalf of Chat Noir and myself, I respectfully receive this token of goodwill from yourself and your Pokémon." A chorus of 'aww's followed the crowd as Ladybug took the money with both hands, almost like an awards presentation.

"Our first meeting might not have gone well, Essentia. I am still glad to have met you, because I have realised something thanks to you." Awash in red and glitter, the tear's appearance made a red mark against Ladybug's fair cheek under the mask and drew the rapt attention from the spectators. "It is the Pokémon, too, who suffer with the humans that fall victim to Le Papillon. And so, we must consider Pokémon not as weapons, but as fellow victims too. There is no blame to be placed on them; we must accept them all, beautiful and ugly parts of everyone, human and Pokémon alike."

Hérisson and his Chespin, the Trainer-Pokémon pair blamed for the showdown just the other day, cracked a sad smile to an Officer Jenny. Officer Jenny gave him a nod of understanding, rubbing at her eyes. Of course, there was not a dry eye to be seen; perhaps, as one Punk Trainer commented, a sandstorm had blown through the City of Lights, entering the eye and heart of everyone who had been there.

* * *

 _ **Critiquez, s'il vous plaît !**_


	7. VI: Bon sang ne saurait mentir

_**À la Vie, À la Mort**_

* * *

 **VI:** **Bon sang ne saurait mentir**

After the Essentia v. Ladybug and Chat Noir battle, Essentia had hopped it away from the centre of Lumiose back towards the Rive Nord. Cutting through the back-alleys, she landed on a series of rooftops overlooking the rue Belle de Nuit, directly opposite Sushi High Roller and atop the building that housed the Looker Bureau.

Delicately seated with legs crossed, eyes made green by contact lenses looked up to Essentia from their sitting position, where her lap held a small laptop. "Mimi has been waiting for a while, Emma."

"I was wondering why you didn't turn up at the fight," Essentia commented lightly as a female Meowstic floated to her side, greeting it with a forehead knock after she took off her helmet, revealing a woman with dark skin, dark eyes and messy dark curls. "So you had your flunkies track them with electronic cameras... because the Kalos League is very interested to know who are Ladybug and Chat Noir. Why don't you pay more attention to the, what are they, Clowns of Kalos?"

"Sina and Dexio are obvious, and they have a Garchomp to mother them." The laptop bobbed as Marguerite Linden du Bois uncrossed and recrossed her legs. "They just left after leaving the impromptu festival at Centrico Plaza to the Pont du Sens, where they spent an hour talking while some busker started performing 'Roméo et Cendrillon' – at least, before some enterprising idiot paid him to change to 'La Légende au Clair de Lune'."

"Which one's that one?" Emma, also known as Essentia when she donned her Expansion Suit, asked.

Looking like she had bitten into a Tomate Berry, Marguerite started humming: " _C'est difficile pour moi d'être sincère, mais dans mes rêves parfois je me libère..._ "

"Oh! I knew that one as: _gomen ne sunao ja nakute, yume no naka nara ieru,_ " Emma made a face. "The Ladyblog must be having a field day."

"Mademoiselle Césaire might have been occupied with Alexa's offer of an internship at the Lumiose Press Office," was Marguerite's response. "Either way, the superhero duo finally parted ways, Ladybug moving towards the North Boulevard and Chat Noir towards the Route 16 gate... huh."

"You found what happened?" Emma looked over her shoulders. "They- their clothes are magic? Who are those kids?!"

"That's rich, since you were a kid yourself, Emma," Marguerite remarked. "How many times did you have to let out the Expansion Suit?"

"Not really," Emma wrinkled her nose. "Dr Xerosic said that I never needed to tailor it, because it would change as I grew... it's a science thing. At least it's not spandex."

"We are in agreement about that," Marguerite inclined her head. "However... I find myself hesitant to report to the Pokémon League about this. Pokémon that turn children into monster-fighting superheroes do not tend to be always benevolent. Sina and Dexio are harmless, though well-meaning, and... well, they are qualified Trainers. Ladybug and Chat Noir..."

"Just as you expected," Emma nodded. "That Ledian hit really hard, though. Malamar wasn't acting."

"Malamar is more honest than we think," Marguerite agreed, considering the tiny monitor showing two videos – each of a boy and a girl, transforming in a flash of green and red light. Slowing both videos frame-by-frame, Ladybug and Chat Noir's unmasked faces became apparent as teenagers.

"The money's been wired into the specified account on behalf of the Pokémon League." Marguerite spoke after a beat. "Send me a receipt to reclaim the funds from Diantha, if you please. Now, Essentia, how would you feel about taking a long-term job?"

"What's the job?" Emma cautiously asked, looking around her. "I don't think I like the idea..."

"Identify the girl. The boy..." Marguerite's finger pointed from the screen towards a billboard showing the Gabriel brand's teenage male model, Adrien Agreste. "...I think it's quite obvious who he is, don't you think so, Emma?"

"And if I don't, you'll get the Murkrow Mafia to do it, huh?" Emma complained good-naturedly. "Your connection to Pokémon is enviable, Marguerite, but it is also terrifying. If those children became your opponents..."

"That's true." Marguerite used her finger to tap her bottom lip in consideration. "For now."

"For now?!"

Marguerite hummed, typing on her laptop. "The investigation was formed with the purpose of determining the situation. We need more data. So, I will meet them, personally."

* * *

A few days later, Lumiose City's women's wear fall collection was featuring the Modern Red palette on the premiere fashion magazine, _La Mode_. The weekend started. It meant that Adrien, for once in a rare while, had a free day.

Needless to say, he spent it flipping through websites on Pokémon battles.

"You know, I said seek expert advice, but this is stretching it," Plagg regarded the smattering of windows splashed across the desktop. "There's too much literature nowadays."

"I need to get the types down first, Plagg!" Adrien exclaimed, still fretting.

Plagg rolled his eyes. Adrien had been in this mood since last night's victory with Essentia. He'd done his part, but Chat was obviously smarting about the lousy showing that they had made, much earlier outside the North Boulevard. At least the Akuma had been purified with minimum fuss, though it meant that Papillon was probably going to find a Pokémon that had Vital Spirit, Insomnia, or Sweet Veil.

"Between the chance of Slurpuff or the multitude of Pokémon that can't sleep, the odds are terrible," Adrien groaned, head slumped over his arms.

The main screen of his room's multiple monitors was covered with Pokémon battling information, but the rest of the screens showed the Ladyblog's latest posts, including from this morning. This morning, with the photo shoot and talks about a partnership with Lavarre City's Valerie in the Gabriel brand. This morning, that caused Adrien to completely miss the Akuma of the day...

" _Wow!_ " Alya was saying in the video window. " _Ladybug dropped a book! It's a_ _troisième_ _history book! I should know, I've got the exact same one at home! Could our favourite masked vigilante be a_ _collégienne_ _in real life?! Wow!_ "

Adrien immediately dived for the mouse, freezing the video right as his chin hit the table, to Plagg's amusement. "What's the chance of us having the same book?! That's insane! We could... we could be in the same school!"

Plagg looked at the slice of Camembert. "You are the only one for me, Cammy. Really. _Ne laisse pas notre amour finir de la même manière que celui de Juliette, emmène-moi loin d'ici, s'il te plaît…_ "

"Haha, very funny." Adrien snapped. "How did you learn 'Roméo et Cendrillon' anyway?"

Plagg padded up to Adrien's desk, pushing the mouse until it was on the screen that showed the PokéTube website, and clicked a hyper-link for the Best 10 PokéVisions of the week. Ranking next to the Kalos Queen Elle was another entry: 'Le Banshitrouye transformant en Carrosse.' It featured a Gourgeist and its Trainer performing the aforementioned song together. Even more creatively, the Gourgeist was lifting its Trainer using its hair as a platform for her small dance as the rest of the song started:

 _Maman et papa je vous souhaite la bonne nuit.  
Je crois de beaux rêves ne peineront pas à venir,  
Il se fait tard, les adultes doivent faire dodo…  
_

"I want more Camembert if we have to stay indoors any longer," Plagg complained as Adrien shut off the music video.

"I told you, Plagg, today is for catching up on everything I missed because Father won't let me go to Trainer classes," Adrien admonished.

"Eh, it's your loss." Plagg went back to cannibalising the Camembert, under Adrien's queasy side-glance.

"The only thing I'm losing here is my appetite..." Adrien turned back to his History research. "And for this assignment..."

"Wait, what's this special assignment?" Plagg pointed to the page, peering at it upside-down from his perch on the table. "We can just do a four-page report on an exhibit of our choice at the Lumiose Museum?!"

"What's the catch?" Adrien read the assignment. "The report's due on Monday, whereas the three-page essay is due Wednesday. So it's a throw-up between spending time doing homework now by going out, or spending it later indoors."

His lips turned down in a frown. "Hmm... today is a weekend and I have no jobs, and I really don't want to..."

"Ladybug agreed on a patrol schedule, right?" Plagg commented. "Combined patrols Tuesday and Friday."

"But Ladybug can-" Adrien was cut off by the Ladyblog replaying automatically its video-posts, including Ladybug being suspended from a helicopter this morning while he, Chat Noir, her partner, was conspicuously missing despite their fist-bumps and camaraderie.

"..."

He opened the tablet where his schedule was kept. It was amazing how fast Adrien could turn from a normal boy to a hardened warrior determined to keep Tuesday and Friday nights free as he pored over the minutely divided hours of his weekly schedule. "Today's Saturday, so if I can do it on Sunday with some information and hand it up on Monday-"

Adrien jumped to his feet, green eyes already alight with determination. "We're going to the Lumiose Museum now, Plagg!"

"...why did I say it," Plagg sighed, "when you're just going to clear everything for a date with Ladybug anyway."

* * *

In the interests of doing Darkrai's museum report and thus reducing their workload (Marinette for Ladybug reasons, Alya for _Ladyblog_ reasons), the two girls elected to meet at the Lumiose Museum. The meeting had also been orchestrated by Marinette because of this morning's aforementioned helicopter-related incident, which resulted in Alya accidentally coming into possession of her history textbook – thankfully, without the latter's knowledge yet.

"Can you believe it?" Alya waved her phone about, in the midst of tapping her CarteChevroom on the bus card-reader to get off at the Lumiose Museum stop. "All I gotta do is find to do who this history book belongs to, and BAM! I'll have discovered Ladybug's real identity! This time, this is it!"

"Oh?" Marinette quickly tapped her own card and ran behind Alya, catching up at the reception counter where they entered, refusing the audio guide due to the 200 fee. "You really think you could figure out who Ladybug is from a textbook that every _collégien_ owns?"

"Yep! 'Cause our school is the only school that uses that book!" Alya bounced on the balls of her feet. "So, all I gotta do is find out which girl lost her history book come Monday. There are forty-three girls, not counting me."

"Forty-two!" Marinette corrected as they passed the West Wing's first floor, which was filled with paintings of three different regions: Sinnoh, Unova and Johto. "Not counting you... or me..."

"I'll only drop you from my investigation when you bring your history book to class come Monday," Alya teased, walking backwards. "M. Darkrai must have been Arceus-sent, to set such a textbook for our class."

Marinette would have dearly loved to send a prayer to the Alpha Pokémon as well, but a bump sent the two girls to either side of their path. Papers and trinkets scattered as the man who bumped them tripped over his own feet and onto the checker-tiled floor. An amulet clinked against the marble tile.

" _Mask, ya!_ " A shadow-like Pokémon holding a mask drifted down, whining in concern as the man cradled the amulet in his hands.

"It's not broken, Yamask!" the man cheerfully told his Pokémon.

"Uh, I'm OK too!" Alya butted in, glaring at the bespectacled man with brown hair, who carried a tan that seemed nevertheless bleached by long hours indoors and sweat.

"Oh, sorry!" The man squinted at them, pulling at the orange cotton scarf wound around his neck. "Hey, you're in Alix's class too, right? I'm her big brother, Jalil Kubdel. You're also interested in the Gigas Continent thesis?"

"The what?" Alya blinked. "No, we're here to pick a random topic for history- maybe this Gigas Continent would be interesting!"

"Oh, Papa!" Jalil raised his hand, waving at an older man walking towards them. "These are Alix's classmates, they're here to do their homework. They want to learn about the Gigas Continent thesis!"

"My, that's a bit heavy," Kubdel the senior commented. "It's glad to know kids have an interest in such topics nowadays."

"Right, so what is it?" Alya asked.

"The Gigas Continent thesis basically postulates that all geographically distinct regions were once interconnected by land," Jalil explained, motioning for them to follow him. "From regions that share some notions of culture like the Indigo Plateau regions, Hoenn and Sinnoh, to far-flung regions like Unova, Kalos and Alola, were part of the same landmass until plate tectonics or Regigigas towed the landmass apart. The myth of Snowpoint Temple in Sinnoh is worded like this: 'A body of rock. A body of ice. A body of steel. When gather those three together, the king will appear.' The last sentence is an implication that Regigigas is meant to be a symbol of world kingship amongst Pokémon, which is fascinating but doesn't exactly match up to truth."

"So... if they were all part of the same bit, then who tore that giant Gigas Continent apart?" Alya asked, scribbling as she followed their small group. "I mean, Regigigas is said to have towed the continents, right?"

"Right!" Jalil nodded mid-walk up the stairs to the first floor, fumbling with his file to reveal a few photographs of gouges turn into the walls of Sootopolis and the cliffs of Mossdeep City, juxtaposed to Cianwood City and Sinnoh's Mt Coronet. "There's good evidence we found that the continent was once united, according to the records in the Tin Tower of Johto's Ecruteak City over thirteen hundred years ago, as the Seiran Empire. It was then divided during the Rota Wars. The Tai-Shogun of Sinnoh reawakened Regigigas with the aim of uniting the super-continent to rule over."

Alya had her notebook out, and was eagerly scribbling notes. "That's a lot of work. Why would anyone do that?"

"We think Nobunaga, the Tai-Shogun, was being literal about ruling _tianxia_ ," Jalil's hands spread, luckily still keeping a death-grip on his files. "All under Heaven, or under the Spear Pillar, depending on whether you believe in Arceus or not. Of course, we're fairly certain that the continents did not move that much, but Relics uncovered at the bottom of Undella Bay in Unova present similar styles to Sinnoan and Hoennese glass-works, and past records in Alto Mare reveals that it was once possible to walk between regions."

"That's fascinating," Marinette commented, not exactly drawn, but it clearly brightened Jalil's face.

They were in the first floor of the west wing now, filled with artworks in the old Johtoan style – like the old paintings that Sabine Cheng liked to hang up. A large portion of the exhibit comprised of jewellery, elaborate dresses, old makeup kits, and paintings of important scenes in what passed for life in the Imperial Seiran Empire, that existed so long before the Indigo Plateau was dominated by the Pokémon League. Some statuary was scattered here and there; Rapidash captured mid-leap in glass, bowls shaped like scowling Exeggcute, incense burners shaped like the gaping jaws of Carnivine, and so on. Giant blow-ups of stone slabs with writing were also displayed, save for one; the stele remained a virgin surface that bore no inscription.

Jalil and Kubdel the senior came to a stop before the mainstay of the exhibit; a giant painting of two people. One was a gold-dressed bearded man, wearing a flat cap where twelve tassels strung with pearls hung on the front and back. The silhouette of Ho-Oh engaged in battle against a Zapdos was visible on his dress. Arcanine loomed at his left side.

The other, on his right, was a woman in gold and black. Dragonair, multiple ones, wound around the hem of her dress, their pearls shining even in the ancient painting. Lugia's wings arose across her chest and torso, wings spreading on her arms and her head crowned with birds outlined in the long head quills of Pidgeot and Unfezant, pearls and gemstones, all set into gold and seemingly real enough to glitter in the light, framed against a gold mask that seemed to be plastered directly onto her face. On her right was reposed a Vespiquen, its wings still in mid-beat as the artist painted.

Marinette privately thought that it was overkill, wearing masks in a potrait.

"Emperor Kōsō and Empress Bu," Jalil sighed, his eyes cast at the woman in the painting. "I admire the Empress. After the Emperor died, the empress consort would go on, despite all the patriarchy in Seiran culture, to seize power and become the first female sovereign of Seiran, taking on the name of Emperor Sokuten."

"Good for her!" Alya cheered in feminist understanding.

Marinette saw the empress too; not because of the elaborate skirts or the gilt and shimmer; she saw only the bee hair-comb peeking out in the coils of black below the crown of phoenixes. Revulsion seized and clawed at her heart and throat foor unexplainable reasons. Her eyes turned from the comb to the empress's masked face, and she played with the magical stones on her ears as her eyes finally fell to her bag, the bag where Tikki slept.

"So, what was so important that you had to call me to the Lumiose Museum for, anyway?" Alya commented. "Marinette?"

"Uh, um, I found something about Ladybug!" Marinette floundered. "This is the exhibit, right...? I think..."

"Monsieur!" A strident mezzo-soprano called, and Alya turned her head. Jalil flinched and shrunk back on himself as a familiar black-haired shadow crossed the exhibit hall, green eyes flaring. "M, Kubdel, I think we have to talk about Jalil. _Now_."

Jalil fled behind the two girls. ""D- Dr du Bois..."

"Your son," said the woman, brandishing a form, "has just requisitioned the Jade Sceptre in order to, and I quote, 'test the mystical properties of the Resurrection Stele by dint of conducting a ritual presided over by a Psychic'."

"But it's right here!" Jalil jumped, pushing Alya out of the way to indicate the pale green sceptre in its housing and set on a raised platform. "Excuse me. Now see, the Empress Bu was well-known to come from the Viridian Forest, meaning that she had powers to commune with Pokémon. She devised a ritual that saved her husband the Emperor from death the first time, when he was injured on the battlefield, though he predeceased her. Her son, the Prince Dan, tried to use the ritual to resurrect his princess, which was the cause for his banishment and for the throne to be taken over by his mother."

"Did you know that your son is functionally awkward?" Dr du Bois turned to the older Kubdel.

"Yes, I did," Kubdel the senior replied tiredly. "I _am_ the director of this exhibit."

"Mask!" Yamask was protesting the insult, which seemed to have blown over Jalil's head.

Alya pointed to the blow-up of the stele Jalil was pointing at. "So... what does it say?"

"It says that the deceased princess, Lady Ryū, joined Giratina at the Sendoff Spring. It also describes a ritual that the Prince Dan, later Emperor Eisō, devised to resurrect his princess, by offering the Renegade a new wife," Jalil elaborated eagerly to his newly expanded audience. "Nobody has ever fully deciphered the glyphs, but I have! It's a magic chant that needs to be recited in order to complete the ritual! I'm sure of it!"

Alya sidled away a step. "That's... nice..."

"He kinda reminds me of someone else with crazy ideas," Marinette interjected quietly as Jalil turned to present his argument to Dr du Bois, now finally aware that his research project was at stake. "You!"

"Hmph," Alya huffed. "I know you don't believe me when I tell you that Ladybug's a _collégienne_. You watch, girl, I'll prove you wrong!"

Monsieur Kubdel, perhaps sensing that the intimidating professor was going to murder his son, stepped in for everyone. "Jalil. We've discussed this, that these steles are usually exaggeration, almost always the illustration for a legend. They called it a legend for a reason..."

"That's what everyone thinks, but I _know_ it's real." Jalil argued. "I can prove it!"

"Really? Exactly how are you going to prove it?" the father asked.

"I just need to get my hands on the Jade Sceptre and recite the spell!"

"Are you serious?!" the father finally burst out. "Don't even think of touching that sceptre. I'd lose my job on the spot. It's a priceless historical object!"

"Come on, Papa!" Jalil pleaded. "Dr du Bois! We have to try out the spell! What if the Prince was onto something?! What if it worked?!"

"If it worked," replied the professor, deceptively mild but still enough to cause the young man to step back, "using it the second time did not seem to work _again_. And unauthorised usage had the prince placed under house arrest for over twenty years, until he became Emperor, _after_ his mother and brother. Perhaps, young Kubdel, you should get your head away from these old granite boasts and back into the real world."

"Indeed, Jalil. Listen to Dr du Bois. Magic and legends are not the stuff of academia."

Jalil's expression fell as his father walked away. His Yamask started to panic as papers dropped onto the ground, rushing to rescue them. A moment later, he stooped to gather his papers at his Pokémon's behest, and walked out, hanging his head.

"Dr du Bois? Dr du Bois, the- oh." The brown-haired young man that entered fell silent as Jalil passed him. "Oh Arceus, do we need the Munna?"

Alya turned to Marinette. "Well? What's the secret of Ladybug you wanted to tell me?"

* * *

 _There's nothing wrong with living out a fantasy. Especially when I can make it a reality. Fly away, my evil Akuma, and transform that young man!_

* * *

Somehow, the arcane rules of Lumiose style had allowed Adrien a free audio guide as he explored the East Wing. It hosted the Paysages du Kalos painting series, four paintings of sceneries of the Kalos region's sceneries.

 _The Courtyard of the Palace._

 _Glittering Cave._

 _Lavarre City._

 _Anistar Sundial._

"No pictures of Lumiose?" Adrien looked bored. "What should we even do?"

"I have no idea." Plagg honestly responded, padding about the floor before he looked up to the photo of Anistar.

"Hmm..."

Adrien paused before another painting, hidden in a corner. Jeanne d'Arc, tied to a pillar as a conflagration started, was the main feature of the painting; instead of technically perfect features, the artist had chosen to leave her face obscured by messy blonde hair like a veil of light in the fire and smoke. This was the Saint of Notre Dame at her apotheosis.

Tears gathered in his eyes. "What happened, Plagg? She was the Ladybug, right? What happened?"

Plagg cringed. "She got captured by the enemy; sent Tikki and the Miraculous away before it fell into the wrong hands. It was war. For whatever crime than to be their enemy, Jeanne died. The Luminous Knight with her... Baron de Rais. Gilles."

Plagg screamed. Adrien flinched; but nobody seemed to pay attention, neither to Adrien's panic nor Plagg's little mental breakdown.

"Bad luck." Plagg breathed. "Always with the bad luck. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not. No one said that bad luck would make Bluebeard."

"Plagg?" Adrien looked at his Pokémon, his Kwami.

"We have raised a lot of gods and monsters," Plagg mourned. "That was barely in the top ten. The worst... oh, that must be when the Empress of Seiran took the Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses. _That_ was the worst."

"You mean... someone like Papillon succeeded?!" Adrien swallowed. "What happened?"

Plagg shuddered. "She was a Miraculous holder, like Papillon-"

"Wait, Papillon has a Miraculous?"

"Will you listen?!" Plagg rolled his eyes. "Papillon has the Butterfly Miraculous, which is no surprise given that Nooroo's a giant pushover."

"Okay," Adrien nodded. "So, this isn't the first time that someone's after the Miraculouses."

"Well, it's the first time involving supervillains all over the place, but you get the idea," Plagg nodded. "The Empress held the Bee Miraculous, making her Queen Bee. She succeeded by joining forces with the Papillon of the time, a guy called Kaien. From there, it was only a matter of identifying and arresting Ladybug and Chat Noir and personally taking their Miraculouses."

Adrien was seized between curiosity and worry, looking at Plagg. "She sounds terrible."

"Whoever holds the powers of creation and destruction we have, hold the fate of all under heaven," Plagg shuddered. "Fifteen years that woman was Master of the World, until Wayzz managed to find someone manipulative enough to talk the princes into revolting and scattering the Miraculouses once again. Now someone is trying to repeat what she did."

* * *

Chuckling with irony as the Akuma infected the jade disc amulet that Jalil Kubdel so treasured, Papillon sighed: "Imperator. I am Le Papillon. I have endowed you with the power of the Mythical monsters. In return, you must do me a favour."

"I will prove my authority over the worlds beyond!" was Jalil's words as the black mist took him and the Yamask who followed him.

* * *

Marinette, trying to read the Unown letters on the steles to reveal the 'secret' of Ladybug that had a solemn Tikki drag her here, managed to spot the Cofagrigus advancing. Mainly because coffins were not meant to be advancing on shadowy limbs, but also because of the man dressed like the Emperors of the Oriental regions leading it.

A whistle resounded as the security guards started running at him. "Hey, you!"

A contemptuous sweep of his hands was the reply. "Genshi Tenson, judge our fates! Will-O-Wisp!"

"Look out!" Marinette dived for her friend, pulling them away from the scores of otherworldly fires that appeared and behind a raised podium.

Alya, though, seemed to have other ideas, pulling out her smartphone and smiling. "Alya, hide!" Marinette hissed as her best friend proceeded to find another vantage point to begin the live broadcast of the latest super-villain.

A box began to shimmer into existence around the supervillain and his Cofagrigus, tossing every other visitor of the exhibit hall out via compressing them into squares of light. "Get out of here!"

Not wasting time, Marinette proceeded to duck away from the Seiran exhibit and behind a side corridor, opening her purse to find Tikki's Pokéball. The Ledyba Kwami hovered, wings beating.

"We need to stop him," Marinette told her Pokémon. "Tikki, _transformes-moi_!"

* * *

 _Ne laisse pas notre amour,  
Finir de la même manière que celui de Juliette,  
Emmène-moi loin d'ici, s'il te plaît…  
Car c'est mon seul souhait!_

Adrien had set an alert on his phone to check for Ladyblog alerts. Sadly, his taste must have taken a holiday when he was choosing the notification tone, or Plagg had meddled with his phone. Adrien, personally, was prepared to lay everything on the Purrloin's head.

" _I can't believe it!_ "Alya was saying. " _Coming to you live, Ladyblog friends, I'm on the scene, even before Ladybug and Chat Noir! This is insane!_ "

"Interesting use of Trick Room," Plagg analysed as the museum alarms went off.

"We have to do something!" Adrien told his Kwami, scooping the Purrloin up as he started running for the men's toilets.

It was a moment to transform, and then another moment to vault the stairs with Chat Noir's dexterity to the location described by Alya: the Lumiose Museum's exhibit of the ancient Indigo Plateau region.

Alya was there, as was the Lady of Chance herself facing the Oriental Emperor super-villain beyond the security bars that had closed off the hall after the alarms were triggered.

"I am the Imperator!" said supervillain was yelling. "This is my property!"

"Sure," replied his Lady, "if you're the _real_ Emperor!"

"Ladybug just waved at me!" Chat Noir could hear Alya narrating; for the Ladyblog's live broadcast, no doubt. "ME!"

Ladybug threw her bandalore, which was caught. Then came a yowl of panic as Ladybug was thrown across the exhibit hall, slamming into her Pokémon and the Oriental stone relief on the other end. The sceptre lifted, held by some unseen power as it floated to the super-villain's hands. "Marici-Ten, give me strength!"

Will-O-Wisps gathered, burning purplish-red as they shot, almost like attacks themselves as the impacted and spread around podiums and statuary, burning through the bars and melting a hole. Slag dotted the floor.

Chat smirked. "How nice of you to hold the door open!"

He charged, staff already swinging. A large hand, though, enclosed around his skull and flung him to join Ladybug on the floor.

"My servant," purred the Imperator, "take the noisy barbarian."

"Hey!" Alya shouted as a ghostly hand grabbed her, and bandages burst out to wrap around her body, trapping her limbs and head. "Hands off! I can walk by myself!"

"You have regretted facing the Imperator, Fleeting Luck." Turning, the super-villain made to walk out, right into a Dark Pulse. "What?!"

Looming from the shadows, Darkrai charged another sphere of dark energy in his hands. The attack scattered across the room, a wave crashing against the Coffin Pokémon and making it bellow in pain. Shadowy limbs wavered, but still held onto the mummified student.

"What insolence is this?!" screamed the supervillain. "A lord of nightmares dares to strike the Son of Heaven?"

« _While you may think you rule all under Heaven, Mademoiselle Césaire is my charge as detailed in the faculty register of the Collège Françoise Dupont,_ » said the Darkrai. « _With that said, let go of my student!_ »

He cast another attack, thus declaring once and for all the position of Lumiose City's local Darkrai on the topic of Akumatised supervillains.

* * *

 _ **The song is the French cover of 'Romeo and Cinderella', supplied by Omega Ta on YouTube.**_

 _ **Critiquez, s'il vous plaît !**_


End file.
